It will be impossible for the James Madison women's soccer team to defeat Penn State tonight at Jeffrey Field. Impossible, that is, if the No. 11 Nittany Lions can add another shutout to the three consecutive they have already strung together.

The Lions (6-1-2) owe much of their recent success to dominant play in the backfield that has afforded goalkeepers Amanda Brown and Jaime Stich with a drought of opponents' shots on net. In the previous three matches, Penn State rivals have a combined nine shots on net Courtesy of assists from the defense and midfield in those three games, the Lions have had an overwhelming 41 cracks at the goal.

Brown anchors the defense and has allowed only eight shots to get by her so far this season. But the four defenders in front of her deserve much of the credit. Unsung heroes like senior Leigh Hamilton and sophomore Natalie Jacobs rarely allow their marks to get in scoring range. Hamilton will also be effective on set plays tonight taken from midfield, from where she can usually find the head or foot of a teammate lurking in the box.

But with two draws already on Penn State's record, it wants to do more than just shut out the Dukes. It needs to make sure it puts some of those shots past James Madison's Robyn Jones. If trends continue, some scoring should come from the foot of Joanna Lohman, who is averaging a goal per game this season.

As Rutgers proved last Friday in double overtime, one way to hinder the Lions' offense is to keep Lohman from taking a stab at the net. It was the first game that she didn't record a shot, and the Scarlet Knights held Penn State to a scoreless tie.

Lohman said Penn State women's soccer coach Paula Wilkins has been stressing that offensively the Lions need to work the ball to the outside of the field and then cross it into the box.

"We're trying to do a bunch of things," Wilkins said. "We're trying to go inside to go out and then outside to go in. It's sort of like football, you pass to run and run to pass. So we're trying not to be predictable. If we work from the outside in, we have some very dangerous players in the middle to score."

Additional to technical aspects, Wilkins never ceases to preach her adamant appeal for emotional play in each match. She said in their draw with Rutgers that the Scarlet Knights came out with more vigor than the Lions. If Penn State wants to remain atop national rankings, it will have to treat every game from here on in like it is the College Cup championships.

Penn State leads the series with James Madison 7-3, with its most recent victory coming last year by a score of 4-2. Tonight's contest also marks the last non-conference rival before Penn State enters the heart of Big Ten play this weekend.