It wasn't pretty, but the Penn State men's lacrosse team was no less pleased with the outcome of Saturday's conference matchup.

Penn State (4-5, 3-2 ECAC) defeated last-place St. John's (4-7, 1-4), 9-5, at Jeffrey Field, for the Nittany Lions' second straight conference win and their fourth win in the past five games.

The Lions scored three first-quarter goals while holding St. John's scoreless, a lead that Penn State would never relinquish. The Red Storm did pull within a goal early in the second half, but the score was never tied.

"It was a grind-out game," defensive coach Kevin Conry said. "We had some adversity throughout the week with some guys being sick. They're a tough team, and we felt like that was the kind of game it was gonna be coming in. It's always good to get one of those, an ugly win like that."

Although the Lions played well enough to get the victory, the win was far from perfect. Penn State's offense only managed nine goals on 41 shots and didn't convert on any of three man-up opportunities. The offense was led by senior Brian Boyle's three points, coming from a goal and two assists, followed by senior Gil Pearsall and sophomore Rob Forster with two goals apiece.

On the other side of the field, the Lion defense limited St. John's to five goals on 32 shots, as Penn State goalie Drew Adams notched 14 saves. However, as the offense lacked perfection, so too did the defense. St. John's was within striking distance of the Lions' lead, only down by two at halftime and trailing only by one early in the third quarter. The lulls in intensity that hurt the Lions early in the season, leading to four straight losses, resurfaced midway through the game Saturday.

"It's a false sense, we get this comfort level," Pearsall said. "We think two goals is insurmountable by the other team. We just kind of relax. We don't take care of the ball. We had a couple of turnovers, unforced, where just one thing leads to another. We really gotta work on and fix this before next game."

Whereas the lulls in intensity led to early struggles, the Lions have been able to turn the game back in their favor in recent weeks. After mid-game breakdowns allowed St. John's to pull close, Penn State went on a two-goal run in the fourth quarter, while holding the Red Storm scoreless, to seal the win against on Saturday.

"Most of the first half were all just little breakdowns that hurt us overall," junior Devin Madden said. "We came back in the fourth and held it together as we haven't been able to do most of the season."

Penn State's ability to fight through the breakdowns, which has led to recent victories, is giving the team a new sense of confidence. The Lions currently rank in the middle of the conference, but they know the season is still far from over.

"It seems like every year, as the story is, we lose all these games at the beginning of the year, and we gotta play catch-up," Pearsall said. "It's two [wins] in a row, three out of four now, so were building confidence slowly but surely."