Dec. 13, 2004

EVANSTON, Ill. - When Tim Lenahan took over a Northwestern squad in 2001 that had gone winless the previous year, he set out to not just improve the program, but to make it competitive in the Big Ten and on the national stage. In 2004 -- just four seasons later -- Lenahan and Northwestern arrived.

NU arrived at its first-ever Big Ten Tournament championship match by defeating then-No. 12 Penn State, 1-0 in overtime, and routing Michigan, 5-0, in the first two rounds.

NU arrived at its first-ever NCAA Tournament, first defeating Western Illinois before twice holding leads against the No. 14 seed Creighton Bluejays in the second round. Although the Wildcats fell to the Jays, 3-2, in that match, Northwestern was the only first-time NCAA qualifier to advance to the second round in this year's tournament.

NU arrived at the top of the Big Ten statistically, leading the conference with 52 goals -- (14 more than second-place Michigan State) -- 55 assists and 159 points. Freshman David Roth (St. Louis, Mo./Chaminade) set a Northwestern and Big Ten single-season record with 14 assists, the fourth-best total in the nation. Sophomore Gerardo Alvarez (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy) led the conference with 33 total points.

And NU arrived as a force to be reckoned with in the minds of the rest of college soccer, finishing the season ranked in three national polls (20th, Collegesoccernews.com; 23rd, NSCAA; 24th, Soccertimes.com coaches poll).

"When you get to the championship of the nation's top conference, finish 4th in the nation in total goals and get ranked in the top 25 that makes you a great team," Lenahan said. "It was a way to soften the blow of the end of the season and to get a sense of accomplishment after a tough loss (to Creighton). In a season of so many firsts, that fact will stay with them forever."

Early on the 'Cats appeared poised for a break out year, winning three of the four Classics they participated in. A 4-0 win over College of Charleston secured NU its own North Shore Classic title with Alvarez earning MVP honors.

Northwestern followed that up with championships at its own Lakeside Classic (Will Nicholas (Orefield, Pa./Parkland), MVP) and at Vanderbilt's Puma Soccer Classic (Brad North (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands), MVP).

The Wildcats championship momentum was disrupted during a 2-1, double-overtime loss to Evansville when Nicholas was taken down and lost for the year to a broken leg. NU then limped out of Michigan State with a loss in its first Big Ten match of the year.

The Wildcats would recover at home the next week, tying then-No. 9 Penn State, 2-2. NU dominated the Nittany Lions the entire match until PSU came back to score two goals in the final 44 seconds to earn a tie. The 'Cats returned to beat Western Illinois, 3-0, to set the stage for one of the biggest wins in all of Northwestern athletics history.

NU traveled to Bloomington, Ind., to face the defending national champion and then-No. 3 ranked Hoosiers. No team had won in Bloomington in three years -- a span of 31 matches. No Big Ten team had defeated Indiana during the regular season in nine years -- a 50-match streak. Northwestern had not won a Big Ten regular season game since 1999 and had never beaten Indiana in the history of the program.

And on October, 17, 2004, Northwestern defeated Indiana, 1-0.

North's goal in the sixth minute stood up thanks to suffocating defense and five saves from goalkeeper Justin Pines (Media, Pa./Strath Haven). Pines was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week in addition to earning a spot on Soccer America's Team of the Week and Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd for his efforts.

The win against the 2004 College Cup champions officially announced the Wildcats were for real, and they backed it up by winning six of their last seven regular season games, including two more conference wins over Michigan and Wisconsin. NU climbed to third place in the Big Ten, its highest-ever conference finish.

"Although it may have been our toughest result of the season, the tie against Penn State was probably one of our finest hours, to paraphrase Winston Churchill," Lenahan said. "For the first time since I had been here we outplayed a top-10 team only to have it all go away in the last minute.

"To battle and get a tie after 20 minutes of overtime and then come out two days later to beat a good Western Illinois team, 3-0, showed me we could deal with adversity which is the sign of any good team. Those games set the stage for the historic win at Indiana the next week and the wins over Penn State and Michigan in our Big Ten Championship run."

Northwestern's 15-6-2 record was the program's best-ever result against all Division I competition and enough to earn the program's first-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"Seeing our name up on the board during the NCAA Tournament draw was very emotional for the team," Lenahan said. "It meant the vision for the program had been realized and really validated the decision made by our players to come to a program that had little or no success in the past. I was very happy for the players because they trusted what we were building with this program and it was great to see that trust rewarded."

In addition to on-field success for the 'Cats, that trust has also earned a bevy of awards.

Junior defender Brad Napper (Dallas, Texas/Jesuit College Prep) became just the second Wildcat to ever be named to the All-Big Ten first team. Alvarez, the Big Ten's leading scorer through the Big Ten Tournament with 12 goals and nine assists, was placed on the conference's second team for the second consecutive year. Roth's Big Ten record-setting season netted him a place on the All-Freshmen team.

Roth also earned second-team Freshman All-America honors from Collegesoccernews.com and honorable mention Freshman All-America accolades from Top Drawer Soccer.

Alvarez was named to the NSCAA All-Region first-team while Napper earned third-team All-Region honors.

Alvarez's play has been so impressive during his first two years at Northwestern, he is already ranked in the top four in career goals, assists and points for the Wildcats.

In addition to Pines, Nicholas and Napper also earned berths on the Soccer America Team of the Week during the season. Napper received a Team of the Week nod from Collegesoccernews.com as well.

Nicholas and North both earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week accolades during the year.

Alvarez and junior defender Sammy Semwangu (Getzville, N.Y./Williamsville North) were named to the All-Tournament team at the Big Ten Tournament.

Players were not the only Wildcats to earn postseason honors.

Lenahan was named Regional Coach of the Year by the NSCAA, making him a finalist for National Coach of the Year. The honor is his second after also earning the nod in 1998 with Lafayette College. Lenahan has four conference Coach of the Year awards to his credit during his career.

Collegesoccernews.com tabbed NU Associate Head Coach Erik Ronning one of the top assistants in the country.

Even after all of that success, seniors Brett Grob (Stonington, Conn./St. Stephen's Episcopal) and Derek Schneider (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Marquette University H.S.) are the only two Wildcats being lost to graduation.

"Brett and Derek were part of 12-freshmen class three years ago and when the dust settled they were the only two standing," Lenahan said. "They came to practice everyday with a positive attitude and a mind set of doing anything to help the team win, knowing there would be little playing time this year. Both of them got to play in the Big Ten Tournament win over Michigan and the emotion they both had when the game ended gave them a tremendous sense of accomplishment."

Perhaps most impressive for the Wildcat program is all of Northwestern's award winners, every starter and every point scored save for one assist returns for next season.

"The rules will change now in that we will no longer be the underdog but rather the team with a bit of a bulls eye on our back," Lenahan said. "Our job is to make sure we stay hungry and keep a hunter's mentality. We still have higher goals for this program and it is important to maintain our focus, sense of purpose and team cohesiveness that got us to this point."