The Penn State men's lacrosse team had no qualms about saying that the second half it played Saturday was the best 30 minutes it has put together all season

The Nittany Lions were scooping ground balls. Their attackers and midfielders were scoring. Sophomore goalie Drew Adams was making saves.

The crowd of more than 500 at Holuba Hall saw all those things unfold on the field Saturday afternoon, when the Lions (3-5, 2-2 ECAC) beat Hobart (4-5, 1-3 ECAC) by a score of 12-7.

But what the crowd didn't notice may have been the most important event to transpire all afternoon. With the score tied at six at halftime, Penn State head coach Glenn Thiel and assistant coach Guy VanArsdale met with the team, as they normally do at intermission -- but this time, something was different.

Out of earshot of the fans, the two coaches gave the players what sophomore attacker Rob Forster called "a talking-to."

"They knew we weren't playing our hardest," Forster said, describing a back-and-forth first half in which each team took a turn holding the lead. "Second half, they said, 'just come out and work; we're a better team than them.' "

The two coaches' words got through to the team as Penn State outscored Hobart, 6-1, in the final two quarters. The Lions finished out the game with five unanswered goals, which started with two in a row from Forster.

"You could tell the sidelines [were] pumped up," Forster said. "Everyone was into the game -- everyone was scoring goals."

Six different players scored at least one goal Saturday, which matches Penn State's season high for the amount of players to make an offensive contribution. The Lions' 12 goals were the most they've scored since March 11, 2006, a 14-13 overtime win against Ohio State.

A few players said that during the halftime speech, the coaches stressed taking advantage of playing at home, something the Lions haven't done well this season. Through Saturday, they are 2-4 at home and will have to play three of their remaining five regular-season games on the road.

"It's our home field," Adams said. "If we want to salvage our season or have a chance, we need to come out and play really well in the second half."

Thiel was reluctant to pat himself and VanArsdale on the back for his team's performance in the second half. Instead, he told the story of Adams, his goalie, who was seeing the ball well and finished with 15 saves. He credited his short-stick defender, Andrew Mackrides, who was burning the Statesmen up and down the field and face-off specialist Joe Britt, who was getting the ball for the Lions and giving them chances to score.

"We were fine, we just knew we had to settle down a little bit and get our matchups," Thiel said.