The Lehigh Mountain Hawks came out for Halloween last night, but they didn't bring their offense with them.

Instead, the No. 23 Penn State men's soccer team came away with a nice treat—a victory against a top-ranked regional opponent.

The Nittany Lions (11-3-1) defeated No. 18 Lehigh 1-0 thanks to a solid defensive display. The Lions dominated early, outshooting the Hawks 9-0 in the first half, and kept them from generating any offense for the rest of the contest .

Stifling defense has been the story for the Lions all year, and this game was no exception. The shutout was the ninth they have recorded in 2001, and the team has routinely had the advantage in shots.

"Our defense is really playing well," senior midfielder Derek Potteiger said. "They're all just walls back there. They'd run through anything for the rest of our team, and they're a great bunch of guys."

Cohesive teamwork was a key ingredient in the Lions' defensive effort. The starting back four defenders—Chris Stout, Kenji Treschuk, Ben Dawson, and Jorma Makipaa—broke up the few offensive rushes that the Hawks could muster.

"As the saying goes, defense wins games, and that's what's winning games for us right now," Potteiger said.

The Lions have been getting just enough offense when they need it, and one goal was enough to claim victory last night. Lions co-captain Ricardo Villar sent a corner kick sailing in front of the Lehigh net, where Potteiger redirected it to junior Brent Jacquette, who headed it in for the score. It proved to be all the Lions would need.

"We created a lot of shots but we need to work on creating more dangerous shots," Potteiger said. "A lot of times we were playing in front of their defense rather than getting in behind. The one time we did get in behind we got a goal. So that's what we need to work on."

The victory could have implications for the Lions' postseason hopes. The win over a team in their region improves their likelihood of receiving a bid in the NCAA Tournament.

Makipaa said that the victory will certainly help their chances, although the team would have liked to have a few insurance goals as a cushion.

"We'll take the win today although the score could have been better," Makipaa said. "We should have taken them away earlier in the game and made it easier on ourselves, but sometimes that's just the way it goes."