Unfortunately for Penn State, aggressive and emotional play in the second half wasn't enough to make up for a sluggish first half as the Lions (6-4, 3-1 ECAC) fell to the Bison (6-7, 2-3 Patriot), 11-10.

The offensive attack surged in the second half behind junior attacker Pat Heim, who registered three of his four goals in the second half. Momentum was on the Lions' side. But when Bucknell junior attacker Kirk Klett evened the score at 10 all, Penn State was silenced minutes after by freshman attacker John Togneri's third goal.

"It just feels like someone ripped our heart out," Gurenlian said. "We've played so hard these last few games. We've used emotion in every game, and we made the mistake of thinking that we didn't have to kick it in until the second half."

Penn State's four-game winning streak was snapped after a lackluster first half, which left the Lions down 5-3 at the break. Gurenlian had lost only one face-off up to that point, and finished with only five losses on the night.

Yet he put some of the blame on his own shoulders, regretting each opportunity that got away. His goal with 12:16 remaining gave the Lions the lead in the midst of five-unanswered goals. But a slashing penalty with 9:34 left was Penn State's second in under a minute, resulting in two straight man-advantage goals for Bucknell.

"A great player has to get things done whenever his team needs him, not just at an opportune time," Gurenlian said. "You know I won some face-offs tonight, but I didn't do everything that was needed for us to win. Every lost face-off is a possession for their team."

The game sped up as Penn State tried to recover, shooting 44 shots in the game to Bison's 28. The Lions had trouble figuring out Bucknell senior goalie Matt Baran, who posted 18 saves.

"We didn't play the way we played all year," Penn State men's lacrosse coach Glenn Thiel said. "You know we didn't slow it up as much, but we had to because we were behind and we had to get to the cage."

But disappointment only fuels the fire of Gurenlian. With a short turn around time before Saturday's ECAC matchup against Rutgers, all of the fury from this loss will be directed towards the Scarlet Knights.

"Well, Rutgers has the misfortune of playing us now," Gurenlian said. "We just didn't turn it on when it was needed. We're gonna come out guns blazin' on Saturday."