With the second seed and a flawless home record, things were looking pretty good for the Penn State women's soccer team heading into the NCAA tournament.

The No. 2 seed was the highest in team history, meaning the Nittany Lions would host every tournament game up until the College Cup, which is in North Carolina. They had not lost at Jeffrey Field under head coach Paula Wilkins, a span of 39 games, making a trip to the College Cup all but inevitable. No one likes to play Penn State at Jeffrey Field, including Maryland.

"For my team I was saying, 'Hey, great, we get to come back to Happy Valley,' " Maryland coach Shannon Higgins-Cirovski said. "To myself, I was a little disappointed that we were going to run into Penn State again at home."

Then something happened. Maryland came in and did something that no team has done since Portland in the 2000 NCAA tournament. The Terrapins defeated the Lions 1-0 on Jeffrey Field, ending that 39-game home unbeaten streak, crushing the hopes of a team that finished with the best regular season in its history and had its highest seed ever in the tournament.

The Terrapins came in and outlasted a motivated Penn State team, seemingly unfazed by the aura of Jeffrey Field, but looks can be deceiving. Maryland was not exactly thrilled about playing at Penn State, but the Terrapins overcame it.

"Ever since I've been at Maryland, we haven't gotten along with this field," Maryland senior Mallory Mahar said. "We lost every time we've come here. There were two feelings coming in: no I don't want to go back there, but let's go get them and get our revenge."

The Lions had beaten Maryland 6-0 earlier this season, something that they routinely did at Jeffrey over the past four seasons. During the past four seasons, the Lions have defeated Maryland four times, including two times at Jeffrey. This time, Maryland finally got off the snide and showed the nation that it is not impossible to come away from Penn State with a win.

"I think we broke the curse for every team that's come here," Mahar said.

"In four years since their coach has been here, no one's beaten them on that field, so I think the curse is broken."

Although the Penn State players, along with Wilkins, were in no mood to talk about the streak after such a heart-wrenching loss, it is something they can all look back on with pride. The Lions went four full seasons between losses on Jeffrey, with some outstanding statistics.

In those 39 games, Penn State outscored its opponents 142-19. That means the Lions averaged 3.6 goals per game to less than one-half a goal per game for the opposition. They recorded 25 shutouts and had never given up more than two goals at home, a streak that is still standing even after the 1-0 loss. In conference play, Penn State went 20-0, making Big Ten foes dread the trip to Happy Valley. Their all-time record at Jeffrey is 100-7-3, a winning percentage of 93.5.

After the wounds have healed from the disappointment of losing in the second round of the tournament, Penn State can look back at all it has accomplished at Jeffrey Field and look towards next season to being a new streak.