The time has come to stop talking about potential and just go out and win.

The No. 12 Penn State men's soccer team (6-4, 1-1 Big Ten) heads to the road for conference matches at Northwestern (4-5, 0-1), today at 4 p.m. and then Sunday at Wisconsin (6-4, 0-1) at noon.

Following last weekend's double-overtime loss to Indiana, the Lions have put themselves in a position (tied for third in the conference) of two must-win games.

"[This weekend] is very important," captain Ben Dawson said. "We are on the road again and if we want to be a top team we have got to win on the road. We need to start winning two games in a weekend."

That is a feat the Nittany Lions have accomplished only once this season. If ever the time came for No. 2, this would be the weekend. Penn State's defense is riding high, allowing just three goals in its last four games, and facing a struggling Wildcat offense.

The Wildcats have registered just seven goals all season. Lions forward Chad Severs has eight. They are also coming off a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Michigan State last Sunday, which dropped them into a last-place tie in the conference.

The one advantage they
have is the fact they are at
home against a desperate Lions team.

"Big Ten games are always tough on the road," forward Joe Zewe said. "We need to get mentally prepared and get ready to play because these are not going to be easy games."

Sunday's tilt with the Badgers does not figure to be easy. They entered last weekend 6-2 and riding high.

They were brought back down to earth last Friday, losing to Ohio State 1-0 in overtime and allowing the winning goal against Xavier two days later with under two minutes left to fall 3-2.

Two heartbreaking losses put them at the bottom of the conference and in the same frame of mind as the Lions.

"We need to raise the bar and work on executing for longer periods of time," Wisconsin men's soccer coach Jeff Rohrman said in a press release. "[Ohio State] was a really disappointing and frustrating loss. We are going to learn from it."

Much the way the Lions did from their battle with the Hoosiers. They came out and ran all over an overmatched Towson squad, thanks to their offense, which finally came out.

"The [offensive] capabilities are there," Penn State men's soccer head coach Barry Gorman said earlier in the week. "Now it's a matter of the players believing in themselves."

Unfortunately, those players will not have their coach on the sidelines this weekend. Gorman underwent surgery Monday, although the exact procedure is unknown.

The best get-well present his team can bring him home from their midwest trip is two conference victories.