With tragedy still on its mind, the Penn State men's lacrosse team had the difficult task of playing a ranked opponent at a time when lacrosse seemed so unimportant.

Saturday, just three days after attending a memorial service for the Jacober and Weingeroff families, the Nittany Lions (2-5, 1-1 ECAC) dropped their first Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) game of the year, losing 18-8 to No. 13 Massachusetts (6-2, 1-1) and extending their losing streak to four games.

The Lions traveled to Providence, R.I., Wednesday to join their grieving captain Mike Jacober and attend the memorial service for his father, Jeffrey Jacober; mother, Karen Jacober; and younger brother, Eric Jacober; who were killed in a plane crash March 26. The team did not practice all week and traveled directly from Providence to Amherst, Mass., for Saturday's game.

"This week was exhausting," Penn State coach Glenn Thiel said. "It was very tiring to go through what we went through."

Penn State did not look tired at the start of the game. The Lions tried hard to get a win for Jacober, who did not play, and came out strong against the Minutemen.

After surrendering the first goal of the game, the Lions scored the next two to take a 2-1 lead with less than seven minutes to play in the first quarter. Then the fatigue set in and things fell apart, as has so often been the case this year.

UMass took control, scoring the next eight goals of the game, and then another four straight after the Lions netted a goal to take a 13-3 lead and put the game out of reach.

The Minutemen controlled the ball from there on out, limiting the Lions' opportunities and holding on for the 18-8 win.

"UMass is very good," Thiel said. "Our transition defense was not where it needed to be, and we were sloppy on some substitutions. They just started ripping shots, and we weren't getting any stops."

UMass dominated every facet of the game. The Minutemen out-shot the Lions 35-19 and won the battle of the groundballs, 41-26.

The Minutemen were more efficient clearing the ball and only had 17 turnovers to the Lions' 23. Penn State goaltender Chris Courteau struggled, giving up 13 goals with just five saves before being pulled for senior Josh LaGrow.

Minutemen midfielder Chris Doyle had a game-high four goals and Jeff Zywicki finished with a hat trick.

Sean Morris led all scorers with six points on five assists and a goal. Patrick Heim, Max Van Arsdale and John Eremus each had two goals for the Lions and attackman Nate Whitaker extended his scoring streak to 34 games with a goal.

"This game was very difficult for us," Thiel said. "We just have to try and get focused, but I have no idea how the guys will respond. We have gone through a lot this week."