It was a scene that was all too familiar for the Penn State field hockey team Saturday afternoon.

A hard fought game against one of the best teams in the country. A dominant defensive performance. And yet, another close loss on a goal scored in the final minutes.

A painful case of déjà vu refused to go away as the No. 19 Nittany Lions (10-9, 3-3 Big Ten) lost to No. 9 Michigan (14-5, 5-1) 1-0 at Bigler Field. Michigan's Mary Fox scored the game's only goal with five minutes left in the contest.

The Lions were in a state of shock afterward.

"I don't know what to say anymore," coach Char Morett said. "I've had to make that speech too many times ... You want to leave everything on the field and I thought that's what our team did today. I'm very, very proud of them."

Making matters worse was the manner is which the Wolverines scored their lone goal.

After two big saves by Penn State goalkeeper Megan Akstin following a two-on-one attack, the ball went high in the air and appeared to be heading over the cage. But it struck the crossbar and fell in front of the goal line, where Fox put away the rebound.

"I didn't see it go in," Akstin said. "I got the save off of it and I don't even know how it went in. I'd have to watch it [on tape] to tell you. But I know it was a lucky goal. It wasn't like a direct shot -- it was extremely lucky."

Michigan did a good job sitting on the lead in the final minutes and Penn State was unable to generate any scoring chances.

The loss marked the sixth time the Lions have lost by one goal -- and the ninth time the Lions lost to a top-20 team this season.

"We've had a lot of these [games] this season," defender Sara Cahill said.

"We've been unlucky, we've been very unfortunate. That was one of the best games I've seen us play this season. ... We just couldn't put the ball in the cage. They got a lucky goal there at the end, that's just the way it goes sometimes."

Unfortunately for Penn State, that's how it has gone all season long. The regular-season-ending loss means that Penn State will be the No. 4 seed in this weekend's Big Ten tournament. The Lions are up against No. 5 seed Ohio State (9-9, 2-5), whom they defeated 3-1 on Sept. 25.

If Penn State wins Friday, it would have a chance for some revenge. The Wolverines are the top seed in the tournament and will face the winner of the Penn State-Ohio State clash.

The Lions have a tough path to travel for a successful postseason, but they know what they must accomplish to keep their goals alive.

"Our mentality is we're going to win the Big Ten championship," Cahill said. "That's what we have to do, that's our objective and that's what we're going to get done this weekend."