Despite an early lead for the Penn State men's lacrosse team, scoring first wasn't enough to get a much-need victory against a top-20 team.

Penn State (4-6, 3-2 ECAC) lost 7-5 to No.13 Bucknell last night in Lewisburg, as the Nittany Lions recorded only their second loss in five games.

"We played very hard, very aggressive," Penn State head coach Glenn Thiel said. "[The ball] never bounced our way. We had great opportunities. It was a great game to watch between two very equal teams."

However, the game just didn't seem to fall in the Lions' favor. Bucknell's first three goals all came at close range off of rebounds from Penn State goalie Drew Adams. The Bucknell offense would scoop up the ball when it was deflected by Adams' initial save and put it in the net. On the offensive end, in the second half, the Penn State offense had four or five near-goals. Shots from junior Andrew Mackrides and senior Pat Heim hit the pipe of the net, as Penn State failed to mount a late-game comeback.

"They had a few easy, scrappy goals," sophomore attacker Rob Forster said. "They scored right on the crease that we couldn't do anything about. That was tough to deal with. We stuck with them the whole game. Their defense played tight, our defense played tight, just a back and forth game the whole time."

Playing the highest-ranked opponent they've faced all year, the Lions remained close to the Bison throughout the contest. Although the Lions only led twice in the game, it was truly a seesaw battle, as Penn State would pull within a goal of the Bison lead but ultimately fall short in the end.

Junior Bubba Scott put Penn State ahead three minutes into the contest, only to see Bucknell tie the game less than two minutes later. The Lions would hold the lead again when Forster scored a goal at the 9:45 mark, but the lead wouldn't last. Penn State never led again.

"We did well. We didn't get any luck," Scott said. "They had three unlucky goals. We hit three pipes. We played our hearts out."

Scott and Forster led the Penn State offense with two goals each. Pat Heim had one goal and one assist. Forster's second goal came with 10 minutes left in the game, pulling the Lions to within one, but the Bison's Austin Winter scored the final goal to put Bucknell ahead for good.

Overall, the Lions stayed close with the Bison throughout the contest. Bucknell outshot Penn State on offense only by one shot, shooting 27 times to Penn State's 26. Penn State also defeated the Bison in faceoffs, a trouble area for Penn State earlier in the season, winning 11 of 16 faceoffs. Junior Devin Madden won eight of his 13.

"We had an opportunity to beat the No. [13] team in the country," Thiel said. "Every time we came close, we made a mistake and gave them the lead again. In a lot of ways I was pleased with the way we played. Some of it's got to go our way sometime."