Of all things to do after scoring his second goal of the game, putting an exclamation point on the Penn State men's soccer team's 3-0 victory over No. 11 Hartwick, Simon Omekanda hid.

The goal, the junior forward's sixth of the year, certainly seemed cause for celebration -- the fans cheered raucously, and it was the figurative bow on the Nittany Lions' seventh consecutive victory.

So why then, did Omekanda run, not to excited teammates, but toward the end line, leaping behind the sideboard and disappearing from view?

"I've been talking about those all year," Omekanda said. "I was like, I gotta do 'em."

In a streak of choreography seldom seen on Jeffrey Field, Omekanda had designed and executed celebrations after his two goals. The first combined a flip, a roll and fist pump in succession. They were signals that after the Lions' season had done a full U-turn, the time was right to flaunt -- if only a little -- their successful efforts.

Apart from not being on the losing side of the score since Oct. 3, Penn State is the Big Ten regular season champion. The Lions have scored more goals in their past two games (6) than in their first nine games combined (5).

It may not have been the pressures of the season releasing or the need to brag that prompted Omekanda's celebrations, and rather a team whose confidence has come to the forefront.

Senior midfielder David Walters said the team is no longer beating itself, and Penn State men's soccer coach Barry Gorman said the Lions have always been confident this season. It's just now the results are starting to show.

"With the win streak going on now and beating ranked teams, it gives everybody a confidence booster," Gorman said.

Yet, the results have been showing for a while, with Penn State sweeping its Big Ten schedule. These goal celebrations were not the pure euphoric bursts seen in the Lions' overtime game-winners vs. Indiana and Michigan.

When freshman forward Jason Yeisley scored the deciding goals in those games, there was nothing planned. Perhaps it was because the game was well under wraps that Omekanda did celebrate, as it was in the 85th minute of the contest.

But when Gorman said the team is more "buoyant" now, it was perhaps an indication of confidence briefly turning into fun. In fact, the only thing sour about Omekanda's game of peek-a-boo was the execution.

"Jason was supposed to look for me, but he forgot," Omekanda said. "Then [forward Christoph Ascherl] came and jumped in and tackled me and I was like, 'Whoa dude, we're both behind the sideboard. I'm trying to get out.' "

The only one who didn't appear to be on Omekanda's level was junior midfielder Jeff Chambers. After he scored the first goal of the game, his first of the season, he didn't immediately run towards his teammates, hands in the air. He did nothing for the first few seconds, and, after the goal appeared to register, broke out.

"Sometimes when you don't score for a while, it's like, 'How should I celebrate?' " Gorman said.

The Lions don't appear to have to worry about what to do if they don't score for a while. They've been doing their share of it lately. But if they have any questions as to how to celebrate, they ought to know whom to ask. Just look behind the sideboard.