If you've been following the Penn State men's soccer team this season, you've likely begun to see some common themes developing.

You know goals are coming at a premium for the 1-4-1 Nittany Lions.

You know that 2005's Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jason Yeisley finally scored his first goal in Sunday's tie with No. 23 Boston University and preseason All-American senior Simon Omekanda has yet to find the back of the net.

You know that head coach Barry Gorman continues to reiterate that he is simply not worried.

And you'd know why he says these things if you saw Sunday's contest.

The Lions didn't win at Jeffrey Field, but they should have. They outshot the Terriers 19-5 and commanded their offensive zone for the entire game, including both overtime periods.

And they weren't bad shots either. The Lions repeatedly got the ball close to the net before shooting, only to be frustrated as a pesky Terriers defense crowded the box and was usually able to clear the zone. On two separate occasions, they literally got the ball behind Terrier goalkeeper Zach Riffett, only to see a Boston defender blast the seemingly gift-wrapped goal out of bounds.

Want proof of this? Penn State took 15 corner kicks, opposed to Boston's one. Unfortunately, the Lions failed to generate a single solid scoring opportunity from any of these.

"We try to work some kind of a short corner in there sometimes to give ourselves more room," Omekanda said. "But a corner kick is always sort of 50-50. You have to put the ball in there and see what happens."

If what Omekanda says holds true, you'd expect the law of averages to work in Penn State's favor soon.

And they will.

By swarming the Lions offense with a multitude of personnel, the Terriers were able to deny the Lions almost certain goals. The cost, of course, was relying on Penn State to make a mistake to get their own scoring chances.

Penn State made that mistake, and Boston was able to create a two-on-one disadvantage midway through the first half, leading to its only goal.

"We played well," Omekanda said. "It was one dumb mistake, one bad turnover."

"We were controlling the play, and completely against the pace of the game they got a goal," Yeisley said. "A lot of people's heads were down after that."

Once Penn State finally put itself on the board in the second half, a rejuvenated squad attacked the offensive zone ferociously while still keeping opposing strikes to a minimum.

"We got more confidence in that offensive fourth of the field [after the goal]," Gorman said. "Now, we need to finish."

With Big Ten play beginning against Michigan State Sunday at Jeffrey Field, the defending champion Lions will have a new motivation to fight, to prove themselves again.

After all, this team is better than its one-win record shows. And soon, it's going to begin to show just that. The only statistic Penn State has failed to outnumber its opponents in is goals scored, but there's reason to believe those numbers will turn around.

"We just gotta keep shooting," Yeisley said. "That's pretty much it."