One of the most exciting plays in a soccer game is a corner kick.

It's almost like a chess match with strategy, players jockeying for position and bodies jumping high in the air in an effort to head the ball into the goal. These plays are usually game changers.

But for the Penn State men's soccer team (4-8-2, 2-2 Big Ten) the opportunities have been many, but the goals have been few.

Going into tonight's 7 p.m. game against Bucknell at Jeffrey Field, the Nittany Lions are looking to do something they have not done all year -- convert the corner kick.

"Having problems with set pieces has been our problem all season," freshman Daniel Martini said. "So we need to practice this stuff."

The Lions are playing their second game in three days and have had little time to practice set pieces, especially corner kicks, which have been a problem all season.

Their worst effort of the season on corner kicks when in their 1-1 tie against Boston University in September where they went 0-15 on tries from the corner.

The "coffin" corner for the Lions has been one of the main reasons for the team's struggles this year as they continue to not meet preseason expectations.

With the influx of injuries this season, the Lions have seen some fresh faces take the field and Martini is one of the new players on the field.

Even as a freshman, Martini has been frustrated with the team's

inability to put the ball in the net from the corner and on free kicks.

Set pieces are not just in the form of corner kicks. They also take place outside the box, where the players set themselves up in position to either receive a pass or blast it into the goal or to tap in a header.

The last time the Lions scored off of a set play was against Buffalo, when after receiving a pass from Simon Omekanda, senior Jeff Chambers booted the ball into the back of the net.

Penn State coach Barry Gorman was excited about that goal as it showed his team that they could find the net off of a set piece.

"We've got a couple of good results that we can build on," Gorman said about the set piece after the Buffalo game.

One of the major problems for the Lions when it comes to set pieces is the team's lack of height up front.

Most teams have one or two players who can jump over their opponents' and head the ball into the net. They use their height to their advantage on those kinds of plays.

Omekanda is only 5 feet 8 inches tall. With players such as Chambers and midfielder Chris Germani, who are equal to or shorter than Omekanda, trying to head balls over defenders that are more than six feet tall, success will be hard to find.

The Bison have some taller players in the backfield to help out goaltender Joey Kuterbach who is over 6 feet tall himself.

The Lions know they need to get their set pieces set if they want to win again, especially against Bucknell.

Martini put it even simpler.

"On free kicks we are not doing well," Martini said. "If we can't score on our set pieces, then that is bad."