When the Northwestern men’s soccer team was introduced during Tuesday night’s NU-Brown basketball game, the student section let out a roar in honor of the team’s run to the NCAA quarterfinals and even chanted “Ole–ole, ole, ole.”
It was only a few years ago that Northwestern couldn’t get a victory, let alone respect from peers. The Wildcats were winless in 35 straight games of the 2000 and ’01 seasons and 0-18 in Big Ten play from 2000-02. Coach Tim Lenahan was brought in before the 2001 season to resurrect the program.
“Some people were worried this was where my career would end,” Lenahan said. “I was coming into a place where few people cared about soccer, and it was up to me to gradually change that mentality.
“I sold [recruits] on the fact that we were Microsoft in 1983. I told them they had a chance to invest in something that would blow up.”
In his first season, Northwestern continued to struggle, going winless in its first 15 games.
“There were times when I thought [a turnaround] would never happen, that I had made the wrong decision,” Lenahan said.
The team snapped its 35-game winless streak in the final game of the 2001 season against Valparaiso. In 2002 the Wildcats went 8-12 and then recruited Tribune Player of the Year Gerardo Alvarez, who chose Northwestern over soccer powerhouse Indiana.
Alvarez acknowledged he sometimes regretted the decision during his freshman year when Northwestern went 7-7-6.
“After Indiana won the [2003] national championship, I kicked myself a bit and got down on myself,” the Marmion product said. “I was worried things weren’t going anywhere here. But then the results started coming sophomore year.”
In 2004 Northwestern defeated eventual champion Indiana in Bloomingdale, snapping the Hoosiers’ nine-year, 50-game regular-season home winning streak against Big Ten teams. NU went a school-best 15-6-2 that season and qualified for its first NCAA men’s soccer tournament, even advancing to the second round.
This season Northwestern is 14-7-0 and eclipsed the 2004 run by defeating Cincinnati, St. Louis and North Carolina-Greensboro in the tournament. The Wildcats will advance to the semifinals if they can beat Cal-Santa Barbara on Saturday.
“I came here for the challenge, for this exact moment right now,” Alvarez said. “Now that we’re here, we might as well win the whole thing.”
Alvarez’s senior class is the winningest in school history. Before they arrived, Northwestern never had a winning season, which makes the seniors’ stretch of never having a losing season all the more impressive.
“It’s incredible to see alumni from 20 years ago, guys that lost games 11-0, in the stands and on the sidelines supporting us,” Lenahan said. “They’re just as happy as the guys on the field.
“Hopefully our work isn’t done. I tell the guys, `Let’s see if we can play one more game, have one more bus trip.’ It’s been a special run.
“People used to have a mind-set that you can’t win here because it’s Northwestern. Now when people ask, `How can you win here?’ I tell them, `It’s Northwestern.'”
– Wheaton College coach Joe Bean, the all-time wins leader in men’s collegiate soccer with 606, can end his 45-year career in the championship game if Wheaton can beat Ohio Wesleyan in a Division III semifinal Friday. The Wheaton women’s team also advanced to the semifinals and will face Virginia Wesleyan on Friday.
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larroyave@tribune.com
