Penn State’s men’s lacrosse team slopped their way through a 13-10 victory yesterday over Bucknell.

It’s games like these that the Lions should be thankful for having as good a goalie as J.J. Pearl. Pearl had 19 saves on the night and was faced with 41 shots on goal by the Bison.

“We played really sloppy tonight,” said Coach Glenn Thiel, “We were lucky to win.

“We have to learn to play smart if we want to continue to win,” Thiel added. “This kind of play cannot go on.”

The Bison controlled the ball most of the game, Thiel said. With the slight exception of a third-quarter energy burst from the otherwise dead Lions, Bucknell circled the Lion goal at will.

The Lions, who typically excel in the first quarter, were held scoreless by the Bison until late in the second quarter. The Bison on the other hand scored three times and rolled over the Lions for most of the first half.

The Lions did manage to squeeze out 5 goals before the end of the first half. The Bison also had a rally of their own, scoring four goals to take a 7-5 lead into halftime.

When the second half started, it looked like a new game for the Lions, Thiel said. He said that the Lions were handling the ball well and pulled out to a 10-9 lead.

“We showed a lot of character to be able to come back out for the second half and be able to come from behind,” said Chris Lehman, who was the Lion’s leading scorer with four goals on the night.

Unfortunately, come from behind was all the Lions did on the night. After taking the lead, the Lions shut back down and barely managed to maintain the lead, Thiel said.

The Lions only scored three goals in the final quarter. With gratitude to goalie Pearl, the Lions held the Bison to a single goal.

Most of the Lions goals came on the power play.

The field was wet and slippery, but that was no excuse for the soft and tentative style of defense played by the Lions tonight, Thiel said. He also said that the offense turned the ball over too many times.

“We gave Bucknell too many opportunities,” he said,”We played bad defense. We were lucky that they were unable to convert.”

One plus for the Lions was Pete Makover’s switch from midfield to attack. He scored one goal and had three assists.

“It worked out really well,” Thiel said. ” I think it worked out well for both Pete and the team.”

The Lions travel to C.W. Post for a match on Saturday.