For the third time in four Big Ten games, the Penn State men's soccer team came away with a victory on a golden goal in overtime.

Junior Simon Omekanda scored the goal 3:32 into second overtime yesterday, giving the Nittany Lions their fourth straight Big Ten victory, 1-0 against Ohio State. The four Big Ten wins is the most by Penn State since it won four in 2001 when it finished 4-1-1. The win also gets the Lions back to .500.

"It's a flip from last year where we were winning out of conference and had difficulty winning in conference," Penn State men's soccer coach Barry Gorman said. "Definitely, winning games in Bloomington [Indiana] and Columbus [Ohio State] is a big confidence boost for us."

The winning goal came off a crazy series of events that began with a foul on Omekanda near the midfield stripe. After the call, an Ohio State player began arguing with the referee, and in the meantime, Lions midfielder Brian Deviln quickly set the ball up for the free kick. He sent a pass over to a wide-open Omekanda, who let it fly from about 40 yards out, blowing past Ohio State goalkeeper Ray Burse into the top corner.

"Simon unleashed a corker," Gorman said. "It was a great, heads-up play by Brian."

Penn State (6-6-2, 4-0-0 Big Ten) was once again led by its tremendous defense. The usual suspects, Markku Viitanen and Geordie MacNeill were their usual selves, but this time the left and right backs, David Gray and Stephen Reiner played just as well, as the Lions defense shut down a potent Buckeye attack.

The size of the Lions back line, which averages 6-foot and 175 pounds, was able to control the play in front of goalkeeper Conrad Taylor all game. Their size comes into play in most conference games, but it was more important this time around.

MacNeill, who is the tallest of the foursome, took away most of the crossing attempts by Ohio State (7-6-1, 1-2-0) in the game. The Lions held the Buckeyes off the scoreboard despite giving up seven shots, giving Taylor his fifth clean sheet of the season.

"The guys are playing well," Gorman said. "We just have to avoid making mistakes and giving up soft goals."

The defense has been a stalwart for the Lions all season, but the offense, even though it has been scoring goals -- 14 goals in 14 games -- is still light years behind last year's, which scored 28 goals through 14 games.

"We're trying to score, but we're not doing it," Devlin said.

Despite their offensive struggles, the Lions are currently on a four-game winning streak in the Big Ten, and will have a chance to clinch the Big Ten regular season title with a win Saturday on the road vs. Michigan State.

If the Lions do pull out the win it will give them five wins in conference for the first time ever in the Big Ten. The Lions haven't won more than four games in conference since they had six in 1990, while they were a member of the Atlantic Ten.

"The last two years we've only won like one, maybe two games in conference," Devlin said. "Being untied with all wins feels really good."