When the new women's lacrosse rankings came out yesterday morning, the Penn State women's lacrosse team stood ranked No. 2 in the nation. The Nittany Lions were fresh off a win against No. 1 Princeton, their second win against a No. 1-ranked team this season in as many tries.

Yesterday afternoon at Bigler Field, the Lions could not defend their new No. 2 ranking, as they fell to the unranked Temple Owls, 6-5.

"Saturday [against Princeton] we made the most of out opportunities. Today we didn't make the most of anything," Penn State head coach Suzanne Isidor said.

The Lions (5-2, 2-0 ALC) took sixteen shots against the Owls (2-2) but scored just six goals -- an uncharacteristic number, considering the offensive firepower the team has displayed so far this season. The Lions entered yesterday's game averaging nearly 15 goals per game. The game was tied, 2-2, midway through the first half. The Owls then scored three straight goals to go up 5-2 at halftime.

The Lions scored 2:30 into the second half and appeared to score again on the next possession, but a Kristen Burke goal was waved off, and any momentum the Lions were gaining seemed to be lost.

"It definitely took me off my game for a little while. I didn't understand what I did wrong," Burke said.

The referee called Burke for an illegal follow through. It was the third Lions goal of the day that was disallowed, the first two for crease violations.

"I don't agree with those calls ... but that's not why we lost. We had 16 opportunities to score," Isidor said.

The Lions' loss is their second one-goal defeat of the season following a win against a No. 1-ranked opponent.

After beating No. 1 Virgina on March 11, the Lions lost 13-12 to previously unranked William & Mary two days later.

But that Lions don't think yesterday's loss resulted from overlooking the Owls.

"We weren't overlooking Temple at all," Burke said. "It was just a matter of executing."