EAST LANSING, MICH. (Oct. 19, 2003) - The Penn State men's soccer team rallied late, but it couldn't overcome a three-goal deficit as Michigan State handed the Nittany Lions their fourth straight loss 4-3 Sunday in East Lansing, Mich.

"We only have ourselves to blame again," said Penn State head coach Barry Gorman. "We didn't start playing until it was too late. A plus is that we score three goals and now we know we can score three goals in a game, but we gave up four rather silly goals."

The Spartans' Ryan McMahen had a hand in all four of his team's goals, including the game's first tally in the 10th minute. John Minagawa-Webster gave Michigan State, which improved to 8-3-2 overall and 2-1-2 in the Big Ten, a 1-0 lead at 9 minutes, 50 seconds.

But Chad Severs (Ocean City, N.J.) evened the score at 27:22 off a deflection from teammate Joe Zewe (North Versailles, Pa.). Freshman Simon Omekanda (Rochester Hills, Mich.) started the sequence with a shot that Spartan's goalkeeper Mike Robinson made an initial save on. Zewe scooped up the rebound and deflected a pass to Severs for the game-tying goal.

But Michigan State scored three straight goals, one before halftime and the first two of the second half, to give the Spartans a lead they would never relinquish. McMahen scored off a free kick from 22 yards out at 41:06 to make it 2-1 and then he assisted on goals by Thomas Trivelloni in the 66th minute and Jordan Gruber in the 74th minute.

The Nittany Lions were the beneficiaries of an "own goal" that pulled them to within two goals at 74:08. A Penn State player sent a cross into the box that hit the boot of a Michigan State player and deflected over the head of Robinson.

Penn State pulled to within one goal when junior Pasi Karppinen(Kuopio, Finland) buried a corner kick from sophomore Brian Devlin (Philadelphia, Pa.) into the far corner of the net from 14-yards out at 83:27.

The Nittany Lions had several chances in the final 6:33, but couldn't find the back of the net.

"We were pressing late in the game," Gorman said. "But it was a case that we weren't moving off the ball and it was a case that we were just too slow coming out of the starting blocks."

The loss marks the first time Penn State has lost four straight games since a four-game losing streak Sept. 9-20, 1997. The Nittany Lions have a week off before playing host to Michigan in an important Big Ten match 2 p.m. Oct. 26th at Jeffrey Field. Penn State will wrap up its home schedule 7 p.m. Oct. 29 versus Lehigh.

For more information on Penn State men's soccer, please visit Penn State's official athletic website at www.GoPSUsports.com.

 Men's Soccer Michigan State 4 Penn State 3 (Sunday at East Lansing, Mich.) First-half Scoring MSU - John Minagawa-Webster (Ryan McMahen, Nick DeGraw) 9:50; PSU - Chad Severs (Simon Omekanda, Joe Zewe) 27:22; MSU - Ryan McMahen (unassisted) 41:06. Second-half Scoring MSU - Thomas Trivelloni (Ryan McMahen) 65:49; MSU - Jordan Gruber (Ryan McMahen) 73:53; PSU - Own Goal (unassisted) 74:08; PSU - Pasi Karppinen (Brian Devlin) 83:27. Shots: PSU - 14; MSU - 16. Saves: PSU - 4 (Matt Novchich 3, Eric Earnhardt 1); MSU - 4 (Mike Robinson). Corner Kicks: PSU - 6; MSU - 3. Records: PSU - 6-7-0, 1-3-0; MSU - 8-3-2, 2-1-2. Next Game: Michigan at Penn State, 2 p.m. Oct. 26.