It’s been 23 straight games without a win for the Northwestern men’s soccer team. But the Wildcats are concentrating on a different sort of victory right now.
“We haven’t won one coin toss yet,” coach Tim Lenahan said. “And every game has had a significant wind. If we win a toss, we’ll have the wind at our back, which will give us an advantage.”
Including the two overtime tosses, the 0-2-2 Cats have lost six straight coin flips.
And that isn’t the only bad luck the team has suffered thus far. Starting keeper Adam Grossman was injured in the preseason and won’t be ready to play until next week. He has already been medically cleared to play but isn’t ready yet, Lenahan said.
Grossman, a sophomore, did not see any playing time last year but has had more of a calming influence on the team than his replacement, freshman Ryan Pederson.
“Ryan improved since he started playing, but his youth and exuberance has sometimes hurt us,” Lenahan said. “He was thrown into a difficult situation and he has done OK.”
But the team will need more than luck and good health to win its first game since the opening round of the 1999 Big Ten tournament. Today they travel to Wisconsin-Green Bay for a 7 p.m. game.
“(Wisconsin-Green Bay) is a little more talented than we are, which is the case with every team we’ll play,” Lenahan said, also acknowledging the skill of Sunday’s opponent, Michigan. “We’re just focusing on doing things the right way. But I go into every game expecting to win.”
NU has not yet held a lead this season in its four matches, including the ties against Drake and Loyola.
Lenahan, who is in his first season as head coach at NU, said the Cats need to play more conservatively at the beginning of games, especially with an inexperienced goaltender.
In addition, NU must find a cohesiveness it has lacked so far this season.
“We need to play with a sense of spirit that hasn’t been seen around here for a long time,” Lenahan said.
To achieve this, Lenahan has used four different starting lineups in the first four matches.
“I’m not going to put the best players, in terms of talent, out there,” Lenahan said. “They have to have personalities that mesh.”
While trying to find that group of starters, Lenahan may enlist the services of four freshmen with potential to make an impact at the college level: Derek Schneider, John Dahlquist, Matt Pyzyk and Andrew Wade.
“John (Dahlquist) is getting better everyday, ” Lenahan said. “Anyone who enjoys playing as much as he does will continue to get better.”
The Cats have had two weeks to prepare for this weekend’s matches because of a postponed match against Valparaiso.
“All the teams will be sluggish, both physically and mentally,” Lenahan said of the unexpected layoff. “We just need to get ourselves back into the competitive spirit. It’s going to be hard because we know that the games are not a matter of life and death.”
NU will need the rest because they have two five-hour drives to their matches in Green Bay, Wis., and Ann Arbor, Mich., this weekend on a difficult road trip.
