And down the stretch they come.

No, not horses — Big Ten women's soccer teams.

Nine of the 11 teams have wrapped up their regular season conference schedule and are playing non-conference opponents in the final weekend before the Big Ten Tournament in Champaign, Ill.

The only conference match left on the schedule is No. 7 Penn State at Michigan State. And while the Nittany Lions (16-2-1, 9-0 Big Ten) have already locked up the conference title, the Spartans (11-4-2, 5-2-1) can move into a tie for third with in-state rival Michigan should they defeat the Lions.

Wisconsin will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament. And Purdue, Iowa and Minnesota finished tied for sixth and will make up the last three seeds in the bracket.

Living on the edge

In its last three contests, Penn State has really pressed its luck.

The Lions have won each of those contests 1-0, which leaves little margin for error for both the defense and the goalkeeper. One mistake could be disastrous.

And, although Lions junior goalkeeper Emily Oleksiuk said she loves playing in one-goal matches, most teams and coaches would prefer an insurance goal on the board.

"From the defense's point of view, we'd rather have a four-goal or five-goal game," Lions junior defender Bonnie Young said. "But, if it's a win, it's a win. And, we don't mind fighting it out 1-0 if we have to."

Limping to the finish line

Early in the season, the Penn State offense was a well-oiled machine.

Now, someone needs to call a mechanic because the machine needs repaired.

Two of the three starting forwards for the Lions have been sidelined with injuries, the latest being freshman Heidi Drummond in the Harvard match. Earlier in the season, Lions sophomore Christie Welsh was lost with a stress fracture. Although Drummond's injury didn't appear serious — she thought she was going to be able to re-enter the game according to Penn State women's soccer coach Pat Farmer — Welsh was lost for at least three weeks. Farmer said he would be genuinely surprised if Welsh is ready to play in the Big Ten Tournament.

With a combined 23 goals and 55 points on the bench, the pressure is on freshman Stephanie Smith to step up.

Also injured for the Lions are two more key players — junior Gillian Samuel and senior Jeannine Verdrager.

Putting up zeros

In Friday's match against Ohio State, the scoreboard operator had an easy night.

Not only was there just one goal scored, but the Buckeyes never got off a shot. Under the visitor's side of the Jeffrey Field scoreboard were just zeros — zero goals, zero shots, and on Penn State's side, zero saves.

While a low shot count against them is nothing new to the Lions, this was the first time all season the Penn State keeper saw nothing to stop.

Lions senior Luanne Strom said the lack of shots was due to the pressure the defense put on the opposing forwards.

Quote of the week

"I still think it's going to be a couple to three weeks. I know she's sort of reversed her target now a little bit for the Big Ten Tournament. I'll be very surprised — I'll be honestly surprised — if she plays in the Big Ten Tournament. We won't overlook the tournament for the NCAAs, but we'll be very careful about how healthy she really is. She's been known to lie."

— Farmer, after Sunday's match, on Welsh's return