However, that doesn't mean the rivalry between the teams is any less intense, Thiel said. That rivalry will be renewed tomorrow, when the teams play each other at 1 p.m. in Holuba Hall.
The Lions (0-3 overall, 0-1 ECAC) are still looking for their first win of the season.
"I would anticipate pretty good scoring, pretty close nip-and-tuck right down to the end," Thiel said.
Thiel has been on the sidelines for each of Penn State's 10 wins against Ohio State, but last year's game against the Buckeyes (3-2) is the one that sticks out in his mind.
He remembers a decent-sized crowd in the stadium, despite rainy March weather in Columbus. Pat Heim, then a junior, scored five goals, the most goals scored by any member of the Lions in a single game that season.
His final goal of the game came in overtime, to give the Lions a 14-13 win.
"They were really juiced last year," Thiel said of the Buckeyes' squad. "They just came out sockin' us one side up, and down the other, and it turned into a real shootout."
Freshman midfielder Chris Hogan conceded that the Penn State-Ohio State rivalry isn't as big in lacrosse as it is in football, but it still does present a challenge.
Hogan and a fellow midfielder, Brian Shea, agreed that the team's biggest ECAC rival is Georgetown. The Lions ended last season with a 10-9 loss to the Hoyas, a loss that many members of the team feel kept them out of the NCAA championship tournament.
"All the teams in our league are definitely good," Hogan said. "They're all contenders for the ECAC championship."
The Lions will play a total of three games during spring break.
The first game is tomorrow's matchup against Ohio State, and then they'll be going on the road to face Colgate on Tuesday and Stony Brook next Saturday.
Shea said that, regardless of the Penn State-Ohio State undertones, tomorrow's contest is an important game.
"We're 0-3 right now," Shea said. "It's a big game. We just gotta execute well [and] play our game."
