Will today’s game be the one?

That is the question facing the winless Northwestern men’s soccer team as it hosts 4-7 Valparaiso this afternoon at Lakeside Field.

After improved performances last weekend on the road against Illinois-Chicago and top-ranked Indiana, the 0-13 Wildcats return home for the remainder of the month. And they hope to end their season-long losing streak against two teams with losing records and one Division II squad.

First up is a Crusaders team that NU beat handily last year on a frigid day. On the way to a 3-0 win, NU played most of its bench players and wore down the Valparaiso defense in the second half.

The Cats were riding a four-game winning streak at that point last season. Now, NU is weighed down by 13 straight losses.

This time around, NU will take any sort of victory.

“We just want a win,” senior goalkeeper Chris Berlin said. “Even if it’s ugly or if it’s by one goal, we don’t care. They weren’t that strong of a team last year. We beat them pretty well on all sides of the ball.”

This year’s Crusaders team is improved over the 5-11 squad of last season, in part because of its offense. Valparaiso is coming off two consecutive shutout wins, and earlier in the year it took then-No. 19 Marquette to overtime before losing.

The Cats have to be wary of losing their focus after playing the two tough teams on the road. A letdown won’t help NU find its way into the win column.

“I’m worried our guys are going to come into the game thinking it’s an easy game,” Kim said. “If we come out tough, we can put them away. But if we come out flat and let them into the game, it could go either way.”

Added Berlin: “We can play fine the whole game, but if we let up for even one minute, it could cost us a win. It’s all mental right now.”

The Cats will be without sophomore defender Nate Grobe, who has been nursing a bad back.

Add to the injured list senior midfielder Brandon Swalve, who twisted his ankle during Wednesday’s practice, the Cats are once again limping into the contest and forcing players to play an unusually large number of minutes.

And although NU players said they went through the normal drills in practice this week — focusing on clearing the ball on defense and finishing on offense — and aren’t focusing too much on Valparaiso, the Cats must be thinking about turning around their embarrassing season.

“We should win,” senior forward Jun Kim said. “But then again, there have been many games this season that I’ve said the same before. I think we’ll be ready for this one, though. As long as we can come out and score early, we can put this team away.”