Road trips are tough for any team, but when a squad has to play two games on the road in a three-day span, it can really be a challenge.

Just ask the No. 2 Penn State women's soccer team: It will travel to Northwestern (7-2-1, 0-1-1 Big Ten) to play the Wildcats at 4 p.m. today and to Wisconsin (5-3-2, 0-1-1 Big Ten) to square off against the Badgers at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

The team doesn't expect any lapses in performance, even away from the comforts of Jeffrey Field.

"We can't use excuses, you know, being on the road, to play poorly," fifth-year senior defender and co-captain Lindsay Bach said. "We have to be on top of our game, whether it's home or away."

The Nittany Lions (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten) have played well on the road so far, beating then-No. 3 UCLA and Southern California in Los Angeles before winning at Maryland.

"If we can do that trip and come out successful, we can do any other trip," Bach said with a laugh.

The Lions finished the three-game road swing with a statement win against the Terrapins, the team that eliminated them from the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

Northwestern has yet to lose at home this season, posting a 4-0 mark at the Thomas Athletic Complex. The Wildcats, though, have yet to host a team of Penn State's caliber. Those four home wins came against soccer softies such as Oakland, Valparaiso, Davidson and Central Michigan.

But Northwestern is still a Big Ten team, and in the Big Ten season, every opponent has to be taken seriously, regardless of who it has played to date.

"Every time we go to the Big Ten schools, we've got to respect what they can do," Penn State coach Paula Wilkins said. "Northwestern is a hard place to play."

Sophomore forward Kelsey Hans and freshman forward Jenny Dunn will lead the Wildcats; both have five goals. Wilkins said that Penn State must stop Northwestern from getting the ball to Hans with some solid one-on-one defense.

Defense is one area where the Lions must become more consistent.

At times in the season, the back line has been suffocating, and at other times, it has collapsed.

In last week's game against Indiana, the Lions didn't even let the Hoosiers get a shot on goal until the 83rd minute. Just two days later though, the Lions allowed Purdue to score eight minutes into the game and then blew a 2-1 lead, forcing the game into overtime. But freshman Sheree Gray kept the Lions unbeaten with a clutch goal in the extra period.

"Sometimes we're very dominant," Wilkins said. "We're putting pressure on other teams, and then we sort of have mental lapses."

Any mental lapse this weekend could prove to derail the Lions. All the Big Ten teams are targeting Penn State, saying the road conference title goes through the Blue and White.

Wisconsin women's soccer coach Dean Duerst said in his press conference Monday that if a team beats Penn State, they have a chance for the Big Ten Title.

Bach would like to make sure that never happens.

"We're going for our eighth consecutive title, and that's something we take pride in," she said. "I don't want anyone else to have that."

And that's something Bach, and the whole Penn State team, is willing to go on the road to keep.

We're going streaking

Three streaks will be on the line this weekend when Penn State visits Northwestern. Penn State has kept its undefeated season intact, winning 10 straight, but Northwestern has won four straight home games. Senior forward Tiffany Weimer has a streak of her own, scoring in every game so far this season. If she scores in the next six games, Weimer will break the record of 15 consecutive games with a goal held by Brandi Chastain.