The Penn State men's golf team knows that losing can be frustrating. After an 11th place finish at the Wolverine Invitational got the Nittany Lions off to a slow start, they had an opportunity to quickly turn things around this week.

Behind the strong play of freshman Kevin Foley and good all-around performances by the golfers, Penn State captured the co-championship of the VCU/Mattaponi Springs Shootout. It was the first time since the Big Five Invitational of October, 2005 that the team finished in the top-3.

After Monday's round, the Lions were 10-under par and sat in second place, one stroke behind eventual co-champion Louisville. Yesterday's 3-under par performance solidified a share of the team title.

"This team has a lot of talent," junior Robert Rohanna said. "It just hasn't shown yet. This week it showed."

Foley led the Lions with rounds of 71,68 and 70 at the par-72 Mattaponi Springs Golf Course in Ruther Glen, Va. His 7-under par total was tied for 6th among individual competitors.

Sophomore Chad Bricker tied for 8th individually, shooting 6-under for 54 holes. Penn State's scoring was rounded out by Rohanna (2-over par), freshman Jim Markovitz (4-over) and junior Harvin Groft (8-over).

For Foley, being in the hunt on the final day of a major college tournament did not alter his approach.

"Last week I got past the first tournament jitters. My ball striking was pretty good all week. I was giving myself a lot of chances to score well," Foley said. "I looked at the scoreboard, but you can't let that change the game plan or they way you are playing. Sometimes it's better that you know [the score] and sometimes it's not."

Rohanna, who has carried Penn State recently with his play, was especially happy about the contributions the team got from its younger players.

"It's a great thing because last year if I didn't have a good first round in this tournament, we would have had to take my score. This year we didn't have to take my score in the first round," Rohanna said.

Penn State actually began to pull away from the pack in the middle of the last round.

At one point, it led by four strokes over Louisville.

However, the Cardinals responded with a string of birdies and took the lead back before eventually ending the round locked in a tie with Penn State.

The Lions were able to climb into contention by posting the best overall round of the tournament, a 278 for the second 18-holes on Monday.

That score put them in position to win as long as they could finish well.

Though final rounds have not been kind to the Lions recently, they shot a solid 285 yesterday, allowing them to win for the first time this year.

The Lions have a long layoff before their next event. The Alister Mackenzie Invitational will be held on Oct. 9 in Fairfax, CA.