Brandon Swalve has to face it every day.

As a captain of the 0-13 Northwestern men’s soccer team, the senior midfielder hears the chatter about his winless team as he walks along Sheridan Road.

“I’ll walk by and a friend will yell out, ‘Sweet season,’ or ‘Hey, you got a game Friday? You guys actually have a chance?'” Swalve said. “It’s hard to hear this kind of stuff. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

Sophomore midfielder Steven Jedlinski hasn’t received quite the same reception.

“I’m sure people say it to themselves, but for the most part all I’ve gotten are apologies,” he said.

Either way, the Wildcats have experienced the losing feeling all too often this season. And after a pair of road games this weekend in which NU played well without results, the Cats are facing the stark possibility of a winless season.

Swalve, who has been through his share of woeful starts in his career at NU, feels somewhat responsible for the Cats’ underachievement.

“I feel bad because we haven’t played up to our potential yet and it’s already mid-October,” Swalve said. “I guess I haven’t been inspiring enough.”

Injuries to key players throughout the year haven’t helped the cause for a fragile squad with one true scoring threat, little experience in the midfield and an inexperienced goalkeeper.

“We already have a shallow team,” Swalve said. “When we’ve taken players away, others haven’t stepped up.”

But Swalve realizes that injuries aren’t an excuse for the winless season. Lack of talent, however, may be.

“Our team simply isn’t as talented as most teams we play,” Swalve said. “But we’re the best winless team in the nation. We keep getting better and eventually it’s going to happen.”

Working hard in practice has produced far from perfect results for NU this season. Whether it’s poor passing in the midfield, weak marking on defense or bad timing on runs to the goal, the Cats haven’t had a shortage of skills to work on during the week.

NU coach Michael Kunert usually doesn’t bother his team with scouting reports of the opposition, instead allowing his team to prepare for games in their own style.

But with the increased urgency that comes with the prospect of a winless season, Kunert has been slightly more vocal in practice.

“I had been disappointed with my play of late,” Swalve said, “and coach came over to talk to me. He told me that I was an important part of the team and I couldn’t get my head down. Hearing that from him helped me to get going.”

Along with their coach, Swalve and the other team captains have had the challenge of keeping the rest of the team — especially the freshmen — motivated in practice.

And it hasn’t been an easy task.

“We’ve had days where we just look apathetic,” Swalve said. “We have had to get over the frustration of this season so many times.”

Maybe the soccer gods are listening. After facing a nine-win squad and the two-time defending national champion on the road last weekend, NU has upcoming home contests against two teams with a combined record of 8-13, plus a Division II team.

The Cats will remain in Evanston until Nov. 1, giving them the opportunity to break the losing streak in their backyard.

And while no game is in the bag for the Cats, Swalve feels the team has a great shot against Valparaiso, Lewis and Michigan to get its first ‘W’ in 11 months.

“We can win every one of our next games,” Swalve said. “We seniors want to go out with a few big wins.”