All season long the Penn State women's soccer team has relied on forward Christie Welsh as a lethal scoring threat.

The junior came through, netting a conference best 21 goals during the regular season while averaging 2.84 points per game, good for second in the nation. Her contributions were a large reason why Penn State secured the Big Ten regular season title and entered this weekend's conference championship at the Purdue Soccer Complex as the top seed.

However, the first two rounds of the tournament were uncharacteristic for Welsh, as she was held scoreless while tallying three assists in victories against Northwestern and Ohio State.

Nevertheless, the trend did not continue in yesterday's title game, as Welsh answered the bell when her team needed it, scoring both Nittany Lions' goals in Penn State's 2-1 overtime victory against Illinois. The win gave Penn State its second consecutive Big Ten crown and virtually assured the team of a high seed in the NCAA tournament beginning Thursday.

"I think she's one of our big time players, and players like that come through when we need to put the ball away," said Penn State goalkeeper Emily Oleksiuk. "It shows her talent as a big time soccer player and athlete that she can step up like that."

Welsh displayed why she was the first soccer player to be named Big Ten Athlete of Year three years running, with her team backed into a desperate situation early.

Fourteen seconds after the opening kickoff, Illini midfielder Linday Johnson gave Illinois a one-goal advantage.

"It was very weird it happened so fast," said Welsh. "I personally didn't feel down. . . we got the ball back pretty fast."

Welsh knew what to do with the ball once she was given it five minutes later when she was able to put a ball past Illini goalkeeper Alcia Leisha to level the score after midfielder Joanna Lohman dribbled the ball deep into the Illinois zone.

"I think she did a good job of finishing the opportunities she had," said Penn State coach Paula Wilkins, who was named Big Ten co-Coach of the Year. "I think Jo set her up pretty well."

The remainder of regulation was a tightly contested defensive battle that featured both teams pressuring the opposition and getting early defensive support. The net result was an overtime showdown, something the Lions are used to by now after having last year's championship game drag on into three extra periods.

Ten minutes into overtime, Lohman had an opportunity to end the game but was stopped by Leisha. Welsh was charging onto the ball however and found the nylon to claim the title.

"Jo hit a really great shot," Welsh said. "I don't know if I was expecting the rebound, it was a hard shot, came back out and I was able to slide it out."

Coming through in the clutch, just what her team was relying on.