If I had told you that 16 games into the season Hermann Trophy winner Christie Welsh would have just seven goals, you probably would think that headlines about the Penn State women's soccer team would read: "Nittany Lions drop another game, fall to bottom of Big Ten."

Instead they are reading more like this: "Women's soccer clinches fifth straight Big Ten title."

Although the Lions have not scored nearly as many goals as they did last season, I believe that this could be the year they return to the College Cup.

How is this possible, you ask? The answer is different players have stepped up throughout the season. Think of the 1998 New York Yankees, who had about eight players capable of hitting home runs at any time. They also featured four regulars who batted .300 or better. If one player was slumping, someone else would pick up the slack. This season's version of the Lions has four bona fide scorers and each has taken her turn in the spotlight this season.

Welsh has made good use of her goals and had three game-winners in the first seven games of the season, including a dramatic double-overtime golden goal against then-No. 2 UCLA. Freshman Tiffany Weimer went on her tear in a pair of games at home. She scored all four goals for the Lions that weekend, leading them to a pair of home victories. After the Lions were shut out by Michigan, junior Joanna Lohman stepped to the forefront and had two goals and two assists in two games. Junior Heidi Drummond has had her outburst recently, as she has scored in four straight games. She has seven goals and two assists over the Lions' last four contests.

If a team takes away Welsh, they will have to deal with Weimer, Lohman and Drummond. No team can really afford to concentrate its efforts too much on one of those players and if it does, it will be giving other players great opportunities.

Weimer is a slippery forward who doesn't muscle her way through players but instead slides around and under them. Lohman is looked to as the field general. Penn State women's soccer coach Paula Wilkins has said that when Lohman controls the ball and pace is when the Lions are at their best.

Drummond may have the most explosive scoring capabilities on the team. She has three games this season with multiple goals and leads the Big Ten in scoring.

Welsh is well, Welsh. She is the best player in the country. She has struggled this season putting away some would-be goals, but she has been hampered by a foot injury. Wilkins said it best earlier in the season after Welsh missed a few easy opportunities:

"The only person that can stop Christie is Christie," she said.

The Lions will get the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament as long as they avoid a Greg Norman-like collapse. If they have any type of success in the Big Ten tournament they should host the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament for the sixth straight year. They have a sparkling 9-2 record at home in the tournament and have won all six games at home this season by a score of 20-4.

Everything is pointing toward a big playoff run for the Lions. They seem to be getting in gear at the right time, as they have six straight wins. They have three more home games to tune up before the Big Ten tournament.

Welsh said at the beginning of the season that while winning the Big Ten was a goal, it wasn't where she wanted it to stop. In the last season of her illustrious career, she wants to get back to collegiate women's soccer highest playing field, the College Cup. She is more than capable of putting a team on her back and taking it there, but this year it doesn't look like she will have to.

And that's a good thing.