A preseason contender has disappointed to say the least.

It has underachieved all season and now finds itself in a must-win scenario.

The Penn State men's soccer team (7-6, 2-2 Big Ten) will host conference rival Ohio State (8-3, 2-0) at 2 p.m. Sunday at Jeffrey Field.

A loss to the Buckeyes would drop the unranked Nittany Lions under .500 in the conference and will make the road to the NCAA tournament more daunting than it already is.

"This game is important for our seeding [in the Big Ten tournament]," Penn State men's soccer interim coach Marlon LeBlanc said. "We have given away the opportunity at the No. 1 seed. It is virtually all but gone."

Last weekend's 2-1 loss to Wisconsin dropped the Lions into third place in the conference, while the Buckeyes are sitting pretty right behind Indiana for the top spot, just half a game back.

The Buckeyes are peaking at the right time, having won six games in a row, their longest streak since 1999. This streak is largely thanks to the phenomenal play they have been getting in goal from last week's Big Ten defensive player of the week, Chad Brown.

"Chad has really stepped up his play of late and is becoming more confident with each game," Ohio State men's soccer coach John Bluem said in a press release.

"If he continues to improve and play the way he has we are going to be a difficult team to beat."

If Brown is getting better, that is bad news for the rest of the conference. He already posts a .64 goals against average and the Buckeyes as a team in 11 games have only allowed eight goals.

This does not bode well for a Lions' offense, which has struggled most of the season, especially when forward Chad Severs and his 18 points have been shadowed.

"We are not concerned about worrying," LeBlanc said. "This is the time of the year to start peaking. We are at the stage we have to win games."

For this to become a reality, other Lions must step up before it is too late.

Pasi Karpinnen has played well recently and is now second on the team in goals, despite only tallying four.

The two-headed scoring tandem of forwards Andy Rosenband and Justin Cook lead the Buckeyes. The two have combined for 22 points on the season thus far.

The Lions must not only shut down the Buckeyes offense this Sunday, but also find a way to create some of their own. A win won't propel them into second place just yet, but a loss will be deadly for their postseason aspirations.