Giving up late goals seems to be a habit for the Northwestern men’s soccer team.

With 1:36 left in Sunday’s game, Michigan State (5-3, 1-1 Big Ten) scored to edge the Wildcats, 1-0.

After the ball bounced around the box, Spartans forward Thomas Trivelloni took a pass from John Minagawa-Webster and knocked it in the side of the net for the goal.

“When a team’s coming on you with a minute left, you have to will yourself not to allow a goal,” NU coach Tim Lenahan said. “Somebody’s got to make a play, and at worst, you get the 0-0 tie.”

Lenahan said improvement at the end of the game will come with experience, a weakness for the Cats, who play six freshmen and have only two seniors on their roster.

This was the second straight game that NU (0-6-2, 0-3) has allowed a late game-winning goal. In Thursday’s match against Illinois-Chicago, the Flames scored with six minutes left to claim a 2-1 victory.

NU is also making a habit of losing close games. In five of its six defeats, the team has fallen by one goal. The lone exception was a 4-0 loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Despite the heartbreaking finish, the Cats played their best match of the season and showed improvement from last season, when they lost to the Spartans 6-2.

Comparing the squads, Lenahan said this year’s NU team is much better than last year’s, despite the similar record.

But how much better? Lenahan isn’t sure.

“Are we good enough to play this way consistently?” Lenahan said. “I don’t know.”

NU spent most of the first half pressuring Michigan State in the offensive zone, hitting the crossbar on a shot with seven minutes left.

The Cats outshot the Spartans 4-3 in those first 45 minutes, but conceded 12 more shots in the second half.

Coming into the game, Michigan State was second in the Big Ten in shots with 106, firing 17.67 per game. The Spartans were also third in goals with 14, averaging 2.33 per game.

Lenahan’s season-long focus on defense and hard work seemed to be paying off for the Cats early on.

“The defense was doing a tremendous job of getting the ball up to the forwards,” freshman goalkeeper Ryan Pederson said. “The offense was coming out of our defense.”

After putting pressure on the Spartans’ defense, NU appeared to be running on empty in the latter part of the game. The Cats spent most of the second half in their defensive end.

“We caught them sleeping (in the first half),” Lenahan said. “Looking at the record, they thought it would be an easy game. (But) they regrouped at halftime. We knew what was going to happen. They’re a good team that started to get its groove on.”

It was a physical game, with 45 fouls and eight yellow cards – five for Michigan State and three for NU.

“They were just pounding us,” Pederson said. “We were starting to get worn down.”

Lenahan said the team’s 0-6-2 record – and 27-game winless streak – is not necessarily representative of their play.

“Am I proud of the progress? Yes.” Lenahan said. “Am I proud of the record? No.

“We pushed a good Big Ten team to the limit. If you think you’re coming in here for a picnic, it ain’t happening. They’re thankful they got the result.”