The Baltimore Ravens showed it last year. A team with a great offense may get more attention, but a team with a great defense will go far.

It holds true in football and it also holds true in soccer.

The Penn State men's soccer team shouldn't have a problem scoring this season with preseason All-Americans Ricardo Villar and Derek Potteiger anchoring the offense. It will take the effort of the team's veteran defense to take the team to where it wants to go.

"I don't know what other people think of us, but we have our own goals," junior defender Jorma Makipaa said. "We want to win the Big Ten Championships and win the College Cup."

Makipaa is just one of many talented defenders who will look to lead the Lions in their quest to keep the ball out of their goal. He is also one of the three captains that have been selected this season.

"As a captain, I see my role to be to go out and be an example for the younger guys," Makipaa said. "I want to go out on the field and set the tone from the first whistle to the last."

Makipaa has already been an example to all his teammates with the hard work that he has demonstrated during his career. After a broken leg eradicated all of his 1999 season, Makipaa came back and started 19 of 20 games for the Lions last year.

Coach Barry Gorman said that it is a tribute to players like Makipaa that they have been able to come back after serious injuries. He said that it takes a tremendous amount of work just to get back to square one.

Expected to play in the backfield with Makipaa this season will be seniors Chris Stout and Ben Dawson. A local star at State College Area H.S., Stout started every game last season for the Lions. Stout has made a name for himself with his intense play over his three seasons at Penn State.

"He is a really tough player," Makipaa said. "A lot of the other teams know he will never give up and he will do everything that he can."

Gorman says that Stout is a great athlete who has been overlooked by both the local media and the Big Ten.

"He typifies the heart of the team," Gorman said. "He is a player that leaves it all on the field."

Dawson is another player who will be expected to give everything he has when he's on the field. A second team All-Big Ten selection last season, Dawson will miss the first three games of this season while he competes for Great Britain in the World University Games.

Missing a talent like Dawson might make some coaches concerned but Gorman says he isn't worried.

"My philosophy is not to bemoan the fact that a player isn't here, but to look at the positive of getting someone else the chance to play," Gorman said.

That chance could go to a number of Lions. Stout points to Gabe Bernstein and Kenji Treschuk as freshmen that have made an impact this exhibition season. Goalkeeper Aaron Musser joins Bernstein and Treschuk as the new faces on the defense this season.

Musser will most likely be third on the goalkeeping depth chart this season behind senior Ryan Sickman and sophomore Eric Earnhardt. Sickman started 18 games in goal last season and posted a 0.92 goals against average. Earnhardt started four games and gave up six goals.

"We have two goalies who have had experience," Gorman said. "It's a question of who steps up to the plate and gets the job done."

The defenders know that their play can effect the success of the team this season. They also know that in order to keep the opposition from scoring it will take an entire team effort.

"There is a saying that offense wins games but defense wins championships, and good defense consists of all players, not just the defensemen," Makipaa said.