With the field hockey season more than halfway over, the races for the Big Ten and national titles have tightened.

Penn State remains in the pack of leaders, with a statistical chance to reach at least a share of the Big Ten.

This weekend, the Nittany Lions face arguably their best two opponents back to back in No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Old Dominion.

In other action from conferences around the nation, certain teams have elevated themselves and serve as potential threats to run away with the national championship.

Michigan (14-1, 5-0)

The Wolverines of Michigan are ranked No. 2 in the nation by the NFHCA Div. I National Coaches Poll and are atop the Big Ten.

With their 1-0 win this weekend over Northwestern, the blue and gold have locked at least a share of the conference championship.

Their only regular season loss this year was at the hands of No. 4 Wake Forest, which also dealt Penn State its worse loss of the season earlier this year.

The Wolverines did lose a preseason game, 1-0, to the U.S. National Team.

However, the team has not lost a game in over a month and a half, and has dominated opponents with an overpowering offense.

The dynamic duo of April Fronzoni and Molly Powers account for 50 percent of the Michigan goal-scoring front with 26 goals between them.

Scoring goals has not been a problem, and neither has preventing them.

The Michigan defense has allowed only 10 goals through 15 games.

Old Dominion (14-2)

Last Friday, the Lady Monarchs dethroned No. 1 Maryland with a goal two minutes into the second half.

The next day, they housed Drexel 8-1 to clinch the Colonial Athletic Association Conference Championship.

They have now gone undefeated in the CAA for seven straight seasons, with 51 straight conference wins and are ranked No. 3 in the nation.

Old Dominion also defeated Michigan State in overtime in its season opener.

Earlier, both Maryland and North Carolina handed the Lady Monarchs their two losses this season.

The Lady Monarchs rely on the skills of Loysville native Angie Loy, who racked up four goals and two assists last week, including a game-winning goal that knocked off Maryland. Her performance earned her a CAA Player of the Week honor.

Lafayette (13-2)

An intrastate rival of Penn State, the Leopards lost big to the Lions in the first game of the season and then lost their second game to Villanova.

Since then, however, Lafayette has won an unprecedented 13 straight games and the Leopards sit atop the Patriot League, a streak that broke the previous conference record of 12 straight wins.

Leading the Leopards is Megan Monahan, who has tallied 21 goals and 9 assists this season.

Monahan has won the ECAC Player of the Week and the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week two times apiece so far.

Also taking home accolades for Lafayette is Meredith Hahn, who has been crowned ECAC Player of the Week in addition to Monahan.

Hahn ranks second in the team for goals with eight, but leads the team in assists with 12.

Connecticut (8-6)

The Lions held on to close out UConn earlier this season in a 2-1 victory.

From that game, the Huskies have gone undefeated in their conference schedule.

Sophomore Lauren Henderson leads the UConn scoring attack with 15 goals, averaging just over a goal per game.

Working with Henderson on the offense is Kelly Cochrane, who reciprocates Henderson's statistics with 13 assists and six goals.

Both are responsible for aiding the Huskies in out-shooting their opponents on the season 195-137.