Losses have a tendency to demoralize a team.

But the Penn State men's soccer team doesn't appear to be lacking in confidence at all, despite coming off a 2-1 defeat to Indiana.

"I still think we're one of the strongest teams in the nation," goalkeeper Conrad Taylor said.

It will be interesting to see just how far that confidence carries the Nittany Lions (5-1-4, 0-1-0 Big Ten) this weekend against two Big Ten rivals, Northwestern and Wisconsin.

The Lions open the road trip at 4 p.m. today against the Wildcats and close 2 p.m. Sunday by squaring off against the Badgers.

Last year's loss against Wisconsin sent Penn State on a downward spiral as the Lions went 1-7-0 in the last eight games of the regular season.

Granted, this is a new season -- but that certainly isn't stopping Penn State coach Barry Gorman from being cautious about the competition.

"When you play the Big Ten, you can throw the records out of the window," he said. "You have to be careful, and you have to be one step ahead of the opposition."

The No. 9 Lions are certainly the favorites this time around as both the Wildcats and the Badgers are in the midst of fairly lackluster seasons.

Northwestern (6-3-1, 0-1-0) hasn't seen a lot of tough competition thus far and lost its last two games. Wisconsin (4-6-0, 0-1-0) hasn't exactly been tearing it up, either. Whether the Lions pounce on the competition -- or just lie down -- remains to be seen.

Gorman has been extremely vocal about not taking any opponents for granted, but Penn State's sluggish performance against the likes of George Mason may cause some concern among fans.

The Wildcats' sophomore forward Gerardo Alvarez, who leads Northwestern with nine goals and three assists, could possibly take advantage of the Lions if they put forth a similar effort.

And with two Penn State defenders nursing injuries, the Lions may have some trouble in completely shutting him down.

Pasi Karppinen is out with a high ankle sprain and Markku Viitanen is also listed as probable with an injury to his right ankle.

On the bright side for the Lions, Northwestern has been allowing roughly 11 shots per game.

So, Penn State shouldn't have much of a problem finding scoring opportunities.

The same should hold true against Wisconsin. The Badgers have allowed 16 goals this season, tied with Ohio State for the most in the Big Ten.

If Penn State was confident after a loss to Indiana last weekend, two conference victories this weekend should boost it that much more.