Every game is a walk over thin ice for the Penn State women's soccer team. One more loss and the team's title hopes are probably gone. However, after a perfect weekend in Big Ten play, the Nittany Lions' chances of another championship got a little more promising.

After securing a 1-0 win against Ohio State (8-6-1, 3-3 Big Ten) yesterday and a 1-0 win against Minnesota (8-7-1, 1-6) on Friday, Penn State (10-3-3, 6-1-1) is back in first place in the conference.

The win against Ohio State extended a four-game unbeaten streak, the second longest of the season.

"This game was our best game," junior defender Denay Riley said. "It was fun and we were having a good time. Our backline has been doing really well. I'm really proud of how we're coming along."

Beating Ohio State was not easy. Even though Penn State has dominated the series, the Buckeyes have had the most success of any Big Ten team against the Lions, winning four of their 15 matchups. Head coach Paula Wilkins was especially concerned with the threat from Ohio State midfielders Lara Dickenmann and Lisa Collison, a member of the Canadian national team. However, defenseman\midfielder Sheree Gray stepped up to the challenge.

"The woman of the matchup," Wilkins said of Gray. "We asked her that whenever the ball was turned over, she would find Lara [Dickenmann]. She is one of the reasons why we won this, Sheree buying into that was very good."

After struggling early in the season, the defense has put together four straight shutouts and is finally solidified. After taking a 1-0 lead early in the game, the Lions kept Ohio State out of the net. This game was very different from the 3-2 loss at Illinois, when Penn State gave up an early 2-0 lead by surrendering three goals in the second half. Since that loss, the Lions have held their opponents scoreless for a total of 186 minutes.

As the defense has improved, so to has freshman goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. Despite struggling early in the season, she has made 17 consecutive saves without surrendering a goal and, on average, gives up less than a goal a game.

"Definitely, my confidence is continuing to grow each game," Naeher said.

"It's getting there. Shutouts help. I feel very comfortable with my defense and the rest of our team, and that's huge."

Indiana, the former Big Ten conference leader, lost 1-0 to Northwestern yesterday, leaving first place open for Penn State. Since the Lions have played one more conference game than their other Big Ten opponents at this point in the season, they could end up in a tie for first once conference play ends. Because of that, the Lions know the season isn't over yet.

"We can't get too excited," sophomore midfielder Allie Long said. "We have to keep bringing our game every single time we step on the field. Plus, we want to defend Jeffrey [Field], so we gotta keep that [winning streak] going."