Shari Maslin and Kristen Burke were able to beat Ohio on Sunday almost single-handedly, accounting for nine goals in a lopsided 17-8 Penn State victory.

Penn State struggled in the first half but found its rhythm in the second, blowing the game out of reach.

Maslin left the game with five goals, a career high.

And Burke moved into a tie for the team goal-scoring lead (28), tossing four in the back of the net. Burke kept her team scoring lead, running her season total to 45 points overall.

Maslin did the grunt work of her offensive onslaught in the first half, scoring three straight goals in a 10-minute span, earning a hat trick in the first 20 minutes of play.

Ohio had no answer to Maslin's production from the start. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, Maslin didn't slow down in the second half either.

With the halftime score knotted at 5-5, Maslin continued to confuse Ohio's defense, scoring two more of her goals in the second half and assisting on a Karen Long in a goal.

Her play was incredibly efficient, as Maslin scored her five goals on only seven shots.

She even had two caused turnovers, making this game one of her more balanced of the season.

Burke did most of her handiwork in the second half, scoring three of her four goals in the last 20 minutes.

Burke played Sunday like most of the games she's played this season -- unselfishly getting her teammates involved early and getting two assists in the contest.

Sunday's game pushed Burke's assist total to 17 on the season. Burke doesn't feel that the personal accolades amount to much though. Not this time of year anyway.

"None of that stuff matters," Burke said. "I'm just focused on getting to the postseason."

Not to be overshadowed, Emily Chambers had a hat trick and two assists. Chambers is now tied with Burke for most goals on the team with 28.

As a whole, Penn State was able to put up 17 goals, its third highest output of the season, after only scoring seven goals in its previous game, against Ohio State. One of Penn State's few weaknesses this year has been shooting accuracy, and Burke felt it was the thing that had to be improved to win this game.

"Shooting was going to make or break this game today," she said. "We knew we had to shoot well and stay focused."

The team will have to try to use this weekend as a momentum boost, as it faces Johns Hopkins, the 11th-ranked team in the country. The Lions said they can win the game with their many offensive weapons.

"We have so many threats on offense," Burke said. "We have so many people that could put it in the back of the net. It doesn't matter who's shooting, as long as it's going in."

Although downplaying her performance, Burke did have kind words for Maslin's five-goal performance.

"This girl's an animal, she could've had 20 today," Burke said.