As the Penn State men's lacrosse team's season draws to a close, attention will turn from its postseason hopes to its core of players.

When Penn State (4-7, 3-3 ECAC) faces St. Joseph's (4-10, 4-3 MAAC) at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Jeffrey Field, Senior Day will come with bittersweet memories of a difficult but promising season.

"[The seniors] are very frustrated because this is their year, their turn to be in charge," Penn State head coach Glenn Thiel said. "They've done a great job with that. We just haven't been able to produce. If we had 5 or 6 more goals, we'd have a great record."

Five of Penn State's seven losses were decided by two goals or less, and two of those five were decided in overtime. Although the season has been characterized by near-misses and disappointments, the leadership of the senior class has never been doubted.

"They've done a great job, all of them, even the non-captain ones," Thiel said. "All of our guys know what great leaders they are. People on the outside just look at the record and say there's something wrong, but we're a very good lacrosse team."

The seniors, both captains and non-captains alike, are anchors at every position. Defender and captain Dan Saltsman won ECAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for shutting down Hobart's offensive leader, Dan Veltman, in the win on April 7. Midfielder Gil Pearsall leads the team in goals with 14. Pearsall, with 18 points, shares the honor of most points on the team with attacker Brian Boyle, who has missed three games because of injuries. Midfielder Pat Heim follows them with 16 points and was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, which is given to the best player in collegiate lacrosse.

After high preseason hopes of making the playoffs end with a record under .500, the seniors would like nothing more than to finish the final two games with victories.

"My senior class has been a great class, a great experience," midfielder Matt Radecic said. "I couldn't really picture it going any other way than to end it as a group and go out and get a win."

St. Joseph's and Penn State both have been struggling, and both hold similar records. Offensively, Penn State has been practicing to break down the Hawks' zone, a defensive formation the Lions don't face very often. Defensively, Penn State will have to shut down Mike O'Neill, the Hawks' points leader with 27, and Steve Varga, who leads the team in goals with 19.

Although the season has come to a disheartening close, the Lions can still take positives from the experience. Radecic said that the team can learn that such high expectations may have contributed to the losses.

"We came into season expecting to be a top team," Radecic said. "We didn't finish. We need to take it one step at a time to build that solid foundation before looking at the broad picture. You have to go out and prove yourself every game."