Overtime is not something the Penn State women's soccer team is used to.

But that doesn't mean it can't handle it.

In a 2-1 overtime win yesterday, the Nittany Lions won their third Big Ten Tournament championship in four years.

But it didn't come easily.

Tied at 1-1, the Lions were forced into overtime in the final round of yesterday's Big Ten Tournament championship game.

"I told them this was the championship game and it's about winning the game," Penn State women's soccer coach Paula Wilkins told her team before going into overtime. "It was about who was willing to put themselves on the line to finish off the game."

And the Lions decided that would be them.

From about 20 yards out, sophomore Joanna Lohman shot hard at the goal. It rebounded off Illini goalkeeper Leisha Alcia. But Christie Welsh, finding herself in the right position like she has done so many other times this season, was able to slide the ball past the keeper for the win.

"We were ecstatic," Penn State goalkeeper Emily Oleksiuk said. "We all sprinted up to where the forwards were. We yelled and screamed and the bench ran out."

The Lions trip to the final round of the Big Ten Tournament came off wins to Northwestern on Thursday (3-0) and Ohio State on Friday (2-0).

Friday's game pitted the Big Ten co-Coaches of the Year, Lori Walker and Paula Wilkins, against each other. The coaches were awarded Thursday night at the Big Ten banquet.

"It was kind of funny," Wilkins said. "We made a joke out of it. Whoever won the game, gets the award . . . She did a really good job and she deserves the award."

Although the coaches shared the honor at the banquet, there would be no sharing on the field the next day — the final game was on the line and only one team could move on.

Plus, the Lions had redemption on their minds. Ohio State was the only Big Ten team to beat Penn State in regular season action, and the Lions didn't want to let it happen again.

With a goal by Stephanie Pezzullo at 14:24 off an assist from Heidi Drummond and Welsh the Lions took the early lead — the same lead they would take into halftime.

Only 1:12 into the second half, sophomore Stephanie Smith added an insurance goal off a pass from Welsh that went over the goalkeeper's head.

The win advanced Penn State to the finals where they would take on Illinois, who beat Michigan 2-1 in overtime on Friday.

Although this is the first year the Fighting Illini have made it to the Big Ten Tournament finals, Penn State and Illinois are not strangers in tournament action. Penn State has beaten Illinois in the semifinal round of the tournament for the past two years.

After Friday's win against the Wolverines, Illinois coach Tricia Taliaferro was confident in her team's ability to play Penn State.

"We've faced (Penn State) before and we have a lot of confidence," Taliaferro said. "Now it's just a matter of putting all the pieces together."

Although Illinois came up one piece short in the end, the Fighting Illini took the early lead.

Only 14 seconds into the game, Lindsay Johnson put Illinois on the board. But according to Wilkins her team knew the game wasn't over yet.

"We knew we had 90 minutes," Wilkins said. "It was more trying to get them to calm down. And once we scored, we got a little more organized."

The Lions answered at 5:52 with a goal of their own by Welsh off an assist from Lohman. Despite the scoring opportunities that both teams had throughout the game, neither team was able to put a second goal in the net during regulation.

So it was a little bit of dé ją vu for the Lions as Welsh scored off a Lohman assist at 100:43 for the win.

"It was exhilarating," Wilkins said about the emotions of the team after the win. "But it was also a little bit of relief."

The Lions and the Fighting Illini both had many scoring opportunities throughout the game that weren't finished off. Penn State had 27 shots on goal to Illinois' 15.

The win gives Penn State an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament that begins on Thursday. But despite the excitement and honor that comes with a Big Ten Tournament win, the team isn't forgetting that the NCAA Tournament is a whole new game in itself.

"It feels good for our team to win regular season and tournament titles, but that's past success," Oleksiuk said. "We can't rely on that at all going into the (NCAA) tournament. It's a whole new season in itself."