Sitting alone on the bench, still fully dressed in his jersey and pads, redshirt sophomore attacker Max VanArsdale wore an exhausted, dejected expression, perfectly reflecting the postgame mood of the Penn State men's lacrosse team.

The No. 17 Nittany Lions (0-1) couldn't hold their halftime lead, as they lost, 10-5, to No. 14 Denver (1-0) at Holuba Hall Saturday.

"They came out and outplayed us and that's probably the worst way to lose," senior captain Dan Saltsman said. "They just wanted it more, and it's something we just got to work on. We got to go harder in practice and [be] a little bit more focused and keep our composure, too. That's one thing we need, to get a lead and to keep that lead and not give it up."

After Penn State scored five-straight goals to take the lead halfway through the second quarter, Denver started to mount a comeback and ultimately took control of the game. Penn State's final goal came with 6:41 minutes remaining in the first half. The rest of the scoring was left to Denver, as it netted eight straight goals.

The loss was not as lopsided as the score may indicate. The Lions had plenty of opportunities but couldn't capitalize. Penn State took 37 shots compared to Denver's 23 but only managed half as many goals as the Pioneers. On 11 man-up opportunities, Penn State only converted twice.

"We got the looks we wanted," said VanArsdale, who scored the Lions' fourth goal. "They were playing the way we expected them to play. It's just when we had the shots, we were shooting them over the cage, at the goalies stick. We made the goalie look a lot better than he was."

Penn State head coach Glenn Thiel said that Denver plays a style of defense that the Lions often don't face. Aggressively attacking Penn State with double teams may have physically worn down the Lions as the game progressed.

"They just fly after you," Thiel said. "They just take chances... so you get out of rhythm on what you want to do on offense. They're all good runners and very good stick handlers and great ground ball guys."

Both teams committed a combined 17 penalties, 11 by Denver. Penn State's inability to keep up physically and failure to convert on its chances led to the second-half letdown.

"They just came after us and made plays," Thiel said. "Maybe we're not in the best shape to run at that pace, but we certainly had enough shots. We almost doubled their shots, but we didn't do anything with those shots."

Offensively, Penn State was also without the services of senior attacker Brian Boyle, who some teammates have referred to as the team's "quarterback" on offense. Thiel said Boyle would have "shined" against the defense Denver runs.

Even though the loss is an early setback, the Lions know that there's plenty of time to correct the mistakes.

"If we're going to lose, we want it done in the beginning of the season," Saltsman said. "I believe everything happens for a reason, so we'll take this as it is. We'll learn from it. Hopefully, we'll build off it because if there's one thing, it tells us that we can get better. There's room to improve."