The No. 6 Penn State field hockey team's puzzling downward spiral ended in another low on Saturday as it lost to No. 7 American University in the first round of the NCAA Championships.

An early goal by fifth-year senior Natalie Berrena did not hold up for the Nittany Lions as American responded with three straight goals to put Penn State out of the contest with a final score of 3-2.

"We didn't play as defensively as we had to," Penn State coach Char Morett said. "We didn't play with speed."

Morett said the team's first-half intensity had been lacking for the last four games.

"It's hard to put into words what they were missing," Morett said. "They didn't have that sustained connectedness in the first half. They came through in spurts."

Shortly after American scored its third goal and increased the lead to two, Penn State lost one of its leading scorers in Annelise Legel for seven minutes after she drew a yellow card. Playing shorthanded, Penn State was able to keep American off the scoreboard.

"We adjusted well," Berenna said. "We practice a lot, a man down in 5-vs-4 situations."

The Lions put together a solid 20 minutes late in the second half, outshooting the Eagles 9-4 and limiting them to one corner in the half.

With less than eight minutes on the clock, Shaun Banta nabbed a rebounded shot and slapped it to the back of the net to put Penn State back in striking distance.

The Lions were now down by only one score.

As the clock wound down to zero, the officials awarded Penn State consecutive corner shots but both were deflected, ending the Lions final chance to force overtime.

"I think everyone was proud we fought until the very end," tri-captain Molly Schriver said. "There was nothing you could do to make anyone feel better though. A loss is a loss."

Even in the midst of the team's only losing streak this season, the players still held each other up through it all. Before the game, Morett asked players to write down a list of what was most important to them about the team. The overwhelming majority prioritized unity as the most important aspect.

"I've never played on a team that's so sincere with one another," Berrena said.

Looking back on the season, Morett said she's very proud of her team for overcoming a mediocre 10-10 record last season to finish 17-4 in just one year. The team also won 17 games in a row, a Penn State program record, and had its first ever undefeated Big Ten season that led to the team's fourth Big Ten regular-season championship since joining the conference in 1992.

"It was a great year and a great season to go out on," Schriver said. "It was an honor to be a part of it. Penn State field hockey -- I just couldn't have asked for anything more."