Not many soccer teams look for improvement after outscoring the opposition 2-0 over the course of a weekend. Not unless that team is an eight-time defending Big Ten champion.

Although the Penn State women's soccer team did not allow a single goal in two games, a 0-0 tie with Indiana last Sunday provides motivation for improvement as it returns to Jeffrey field this weekend.

The Lions will host Minnesota (7-6-1, 1-5 Big Ten) tonight at 7 and Ohio State (7-5-1, 3-3 Big Ten) Sunday afternoon at 1.

With such strong defensive performances against Purdue and Indiana last weekend, the Lions are focusing some of their efforts this week toward improving their offensive production.

"We're trying to continue good communication, pressure on the ball, covering for each other, and getting numbers behind the ball," head coach Paula Wilkins said.

While the Big Ten title race is heating up and the Lions are in the unfamiliar territory of not having a lock on the conference at this point in the season, the team is still working on simple offensive strategies in preparation for a key weekend.

Minnesota is near the bottom of the conference standings coming into the weekend, while Ohio State is in the middle of the pack.

"We've just been working on the basics again, getting pressure on the ball, covering, and talking about putting pressure on other teams," Wilkins said. "[Working on] getting forward and getting some shots off, because we're getting numbers in advance on the ball. We need to attack as a group."

Working together as one cohesive unit will be the goal against Minnesota. The Lions have won 10-straight meetings against the Gophers, but Minnesota is coming off its first Big Ten win of the season last weekend against Iowa.

"Minnesota is very athletic," Wilkins said. "They're dangerous up front, they can bypass people and they can attack from the flanks."

The Lion defenders will be further tested against the Buckeyes on Sunday.

"Ohio State has a very good player in Lara Dickenmann, who is probably one of the best players in the country," Wilikins said.

"Along with their attacking three, I think all those guys are going to cause us some problems."

The Lions will have their hands full defending Dickenmann, who was named to the Soccerbuzz.com elite team of the week after racking up three goals last weekend. Her offensive hot streak gave the Buckeyes two quality wins.

Ohio State is coming off a tough win against an Illinois team that the Lions lost to two weeks ago. It's hard to ignore that Ohio State should come into Happy Valley this weekend playing very well.

With many things on the team's mind as it gears up to take on the Gophers, returning home after a tough four-game road stretch allows for refocusing on the final surge to capture a ninth Big Ten title.

"I know the players are really excited to be back on Jeffrey field in front of their home crowd," Wilkins said. "It's been a long four [road] games.