If defense wins championships, then the Penn State field hockey team is well on its way to winning one, be it of the Big Ten or NCAA variety.

Coming off a tough loss to conference rival Michigan, 3-1, this past Friday, the defense led the No. 6 Nittany Lions (13-3, 3-2 Big Ten) to arguably their biggest victory of the season, 3-2, against No. 1 Old Dominion (15-3) on Sunday.

"It was the best defensive performance I've seen in a long time," Penn State field hockey coach Char Morett said. "Overall, the defense was not willing to give anything up."

Leading the way for the Lions' defense is goalie Annie Zinkavich, who has shut out opponents six times this season and held five teams to a goal apiece. But Zinkavich refuses to take any of the credit, describing the defense as "unbelievable and phenomenal" in the win over ODU.

"I thought we played really well, really connected," Zinkavich said. "Everybody was listening to each other."

Zinkavich, who said she was determined to hold ODU scoreless, shut out the Lady Monarchs for over 50 minutes of play before allowing a well-positioned shot to go through.

A series of ODU penalty corners in the second half, with Penn State holding only a slim one-goal lead, tested the junior goalie and her defense, but the Lions refused to break. Morett was pleased with the defense's ability to overcome adversity when it needed to.

"Annie had a huge performance," Morett said. "We needed to see her play aggressive. She made some nice saves when she needed to."

And not only does the Penn State defense prevent opponents from scoring, it also produces goals of its own. Senior sweeper Kelly Concini had two goals on the weekend to up her season total to four.

"It's always fun to get up in front of the cage and be able to shoot," Concini said. "Both my goals were just kind of reactions and it just sort of happened. I wasn't expecting them to go in."

Concini felt her defensive play was not up to par, so she was pleased she was able to contribute positively.

And just ahead of Concini and Zinkavich, at the back positions, are senior Kate Bender (one goal) and sophomore Kelly Larson. While Bender and Larson don't get the offensive glory of Concini, they had solid play with their ability to take the ball away from ODU forwards and get the ball back into the Lions' hands.

"The whole defense is all capable of putting the ball in everyone's hands," Morett said.