Northwestern University Athletics
Men's Soccer Season in Review
11/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 20, 2001
Evanston, Ill. - Due to a make-up game scheduled after the Big Ten Tournament, the Northwestern men's soccer team can claim what very few teams in the nation can. The Wildcats ended their season with a win, so next year they will begin the season on the heels of their first win streak in two years.
The 'Cats beat Valparaiso, 1-0, in a game rescheduled after the Sept. 11 attacks. Prior to that game, NU had not won since the Big Ten tournament in 1999, when the 'Cats beat Wisconsin in the first round. If not for the coaches wanting an extra game for their players, they may still be looking for that elusive victory.
"One of our big things as a team was to make sure that, no matter what our record was or how many games we went without a win, we never quit and never gave up," said Wildcat head coach Tim Lenahan. "I think that was one goal we did accomplish, and the win in the last game of the year reflected that never-say-die attitude."
Lenahan took over the soccer program last spring with a reputation of turning around losing programs. He preaches a never give up attitude and requires his players to give 100-percent effort, 100 percent of the time. A casual fan of Wildcat soccer may not have noticed the difference this year- they were 1-13-3, overall and still have not won a conference game in two years.
Look deeper, though, and you will find marked improvements in this team from years past.
The NU roster consisted of only two seniors and listed 12 freshmen. Under Lenahan's leadership, this young squad bettered last year's mark of 0-17-1 and cut the amount of goals given up by 19. Seven games were lost by one goal, including three consecutive last-minute losses midseason. The 'Cats held off Michigan State for 88 minutes before taking a 1-0 loss. They also fell to Illinois-Chicago in the 83rd minute, 2-1, and to Western Illinois in the 88th minute, 2-1. The 'Cats were inches away from a win against Western Michigan when freshman Mike Henry (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) hit the inside right post with less than a minute to play in regulation and the game tied, but the ball ricocheted back across the goal and into the hands of the WMU goalie for the save. The 'Cats lost to the Broncos in overtime.
"We did a better job defending. However, we still need to cut the number of goals given up in half if we expect to compete with other teams in the future," said Lenahan.
Senior captain Daniel Doman (Bloomfield Hills, Wis./Detroit Country Day) led the team with eight points, scoring three goals and assisting on two others. Victor Boni (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) has the distinction of being the only Wildcat with a gamewinning goal this year. Boni led the freshmen class in goals with two, including the shot against Valparaiso that snapped the Wildcats' losing streak. Junior Steven Jedlinski (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) assisted on Boni's gamewinning goal and finished with a team-high six for the year.
Ryan Pederson (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North) was the 'Cats man in goal for 15 games. The freshman made 80 saves and garnered a 1.86 goals against average. Redshirt sophomore Adam Grossman (Potomac, Md./Churchill) spent the first half of the season rehabbing a preseason injury and did not see any action until the ninth game of the year. Grossman made 10 saves and had 2.48 goals against average.
Lenahan will get his first group of recruits in this fall, and the current players have now had a full season to get use to his ambitious expectations. This season is the foundation on which the men's soccer program will be built upon, and if Lenahan's past success is any indication the transition should not take too long.
