Brian Shea, a freshman midfielder on the Penn State lacrosse team, had the ball and was charging toward the University of Denver's goal. He spotted sophomore attacker Rob Forster -- who was even closer to the net -- and launched the ball his way.

The ball sailed past Forster. And in a way, the Nittany Lions' opportunity to tie Saturday night's game against Denver was, symbolically, sailing away also. At this point, it was early in the fourth quarter and Denver held a 6-5 lead, but it wouldn't stay so close for long. Denver would go on to score four more times en route to a 10-5 victory in the season opener for both teams.

The missed pass from Shea to Forster was just one glimpse into the Lions' missed opportunities Saturday night. The offense had plenty of chances to get to the net in their scoreless second half, as they were able to get five more shots off during that time than Denver did. The problem, as both Penn State head coach Glenn Thiel and sophomore attacker Max VanArsdale said after the game, was that the team wasn't taking advantage of its chances.

"We might have gotten a little bit tired," said VanArsdale, who had scored an early second-quarter goal that gave Penn State a 4-2 lead. "We just weren't shooting as well. We had the shots ... we just didn't hit our opportunities."

Thiel thought that the placement of the Penn State shots was a problem, as shots often sailed wide of their target or hit Denver's goalie right in the chest.

All of the Lions' goals came in the first half, giving them a 5-3 advantage at the break. Denver coach Jamie Munro said that his team's ability to hold on to the ball in the second half made the difference.

"Sometimes it's hard to get rolling," Munro said. "But if we get rolling, we can be pretty good."

Two of Penn State's goals happened after Denver penalties that gave the Lions a one-man advantage. In the fourth quarter, Penn State would have five more chances to play an under-manned Denver side but couldn't score on any of them.

"They could afford to slash us and swing at us because we weren't scoring anything," Thiel said.

VanArsdale said that the team would need to work on shooting during practices this week with a game coming up this weekend against Notre Dame, who came into the season ranked No. 17 in the country. Penn State lost on the road to the Fighting Irish last year, 8-4, a game in which Notre Dame took more shots, scooped up more ground balls and won more face-offs.

"I don't think we could have played any harder," VanArsdale said of Saturday's loss to Denver.

"We gave it our all -- it's just those shots again."