October has traditionally been a time to relax for the Penn State women's soccer team.

Since winning their first of eight straight Big Ten championships in 1998, the Nittany Lions have dominated the regular season and subsequently taken all of the drama out of the conference's title run.

But this season has proven to be different. With more regular-season losses this year (three) than the last two years combined (two), Penn State is doing anything but relaxing.

"The word refreshing isn't right, but it is the competitive part of the game," head coach Paula Wilkins said.

Normally, the Lions have had a strong grasp on first place in the conference this late into the year, and this season appeared to be headed down the same path.

Then came their unexplainable collapse at Illinois on Oct. 1, when they blew a 2-0 second-half lead. Mix in last Sunday's tie with Indiana and the No. 11 Lions are dealing with the prospect of finishing outside of first for the first time in nine years.

Wilkins cited her team's "difficult schedule", which has often included playing two weekend road games against opponents that have had an extra day off, as one of the reasons for its struggles.

"It's a really new feeling because we've won [the Big Ten] for eight years and you get to the point when

you're constantly winning so you always expect to win," junior defender Denay Riley said. "I'm like, 'We have to win because we've always won,' and that's a good feeling because it's not bad to always want to win."

Had Penn State been able to win either one of its contests against the Fighting Illini or Hoosiers, it might be sitting in a much better situation.

As it stands, however, the Lions (8-3-3, 4-1-1 Big Ten) are in a first-place tie with Indiana. What the standing doesn't show is that Penn State has played one more game than both No. 16 Indiana and No. 24 Illinois, who currently occupies second place.

This leaves the Lions in the unfavorable position of having to rely on other teams to lose games.

"It's frustrating because we're not in control of our own fate and we have no control in what other teams are doing and how they are playing," sophomore midfielder Allie Long said.

The only thing that Penn State can control is how well it plays in four remaining conference games, all at Jeffrey Field -- where it has not lost a Big Ten regular-season game since 1995.

"We know that if we slip up, it's done. There is a little bit more urgency about it, but you can't have the job if you need to somebody to help you," Wilkins said.

"We know that other teams can help us, but we have to take care of our things first because if we don't take care of those, then everything else is a moot point."