The Penn State men's soccer team has been riding a seesaw over the last week.

The Nittany Lions (2-5-1) were on top of the playground staple after playing toe to toe with No. 17 UCLA and upsetting then-No. 6 Maryland. But Sunday's 1-0 loss to George Mason sent Penn State crashing back down to the asphalt.

The Lions will try and dust themselves off at 7 p.m. tonight when they take on St. Bonaventure (1-5-1) at Jeffrey Field. This is a matchup that has a lot more importance now then it did when the schedules where finalized.

"We've had some bad losses," junior forward Simon Omekanda said. "Our next game is always our biggest game. We need to get some wins."

Penn State coach Barry Gorman agrees with Omekanda's assesment, but he has other reasons for why the game is big for the Lions.

"We need to get the offense producing," Gorman said. "We have been playing well, but it's our production that needs to vastly improve."

Not to beat a dead horse, but Penn State's four goals in eight games is a number that's extremely low -- even by soccer standards. Last year's team already had 18 goals by the eight-game mark and it played much stiffer competition, including five ranked opponents.

"We have to keep trying hard, and go out and do some extra shooting before practice," Omekanda said. "And hope to have some luck in the games."

Where the Lions' offense has been weak their defense has been strong. Junior Markku Viitanen and company have kept Penn State in every game they have played this season. The Lions' backline, including goalkeeper Conrad Taylor, has allowed only seven goals to get behind them, even with an offense that has left a lot to be desired.

Despite the dominance of their defense, the Lions have given up five goals after the 70-minute mark in three of their last six games (0-3). Late goals are usually a consequence of tired legs, but Gorman doesn't see it that way.

"If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that we would have only given up seven goals at this point in the season, we would have been delighted," Gorman said. "Our fitness level is fine. I wish we had a little more depth, but we are capable of having a breakout game."

Just like George Mason, the Bonnies' defense has not been all that stellar, allowing 13 goals in seven games -- including nine in their last three games -- and opponents have averaged 15.1 shots against in those games.

These defensive numbers stand out because St. Bonaventure doesn't play anywhere near the level of competition that the Lions do. While Penn State plays the UCLA's of the world, the Bonnies compete against Canisius and Buffalo. Yet, they do have one opponent in common, Maryland, which dominated St. Bonaventure 3-0 on Sept. 18.

Which could mean the game tonight against St. Bonaventure is the prescription that Penn State is looking for to get over its allergy to goal scoring, or it could get worse.

"They have to work on things outside of practice," Gorman said. "This is something they have to fix on their own, it would be like if [a journalist] didn't know how to spell, he would have to fix that in his own time or he'd get fired."

Injury Report

Junior right-side defender David Gray split his head open during the match against George Mason on Sunday. Gorman said that Gray would likely be held out of tonight's game for precautionary reasons. Sophomore Stephen Reihner will replace Gray in the lineup.

Sophomore midfielder Dan Shaffer (hamstring) may play tonight, but most likely is still a week away, according to Gorman.