Credit the Northwestern field hockey team for one thing: It’s persistent.

Just a week after their season bottomed out with a 6-1 loss to then-No. 5 Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten tournament on Nov. 4, the Wildcats are already training for the 2002 season.

Meanwhile, the Wolverines are preparing for their national semifinal match against Princeton on Friday afternoon.

“We’re going to keep working as hard as we’ve been working,” NU freshman Candice Cooper said after the loss to Michigan. “The hard work, effort and competitiveness can’t go down.”

But it wasn’t hard work, effort or competitiveness that brought down NU this year. Those elements were consistent throughout their 2-13 campaign.

“There hasn’t been a time when the team hasn’t shown up to work hard,” coach Marisa Didio said after the Cats’ season finale. “They just keep trying to play hard together. What else can a coach ask for, especially when they’re not seeing results?”

The Cats seemed to be haunted by a new weakness in every match.

In NU’s 5-0 loss to highly touted Michigan State on Sept. 23, Didio said the defense was solid, but the Spartans got two soft goals.

Bad luck — in the form of a game-shifting own-goal — felled the Cats in their 3-1 loss to Ohio State on Sept. 28.

In a 2-1 overtime loss to Louisville on Oct. 6, NU’s goalkeeping was stellar, but the Cats were outshot 26-5.

When Iowa defeated NU 2-1 on Oct. 14, NU started strong but couldn’t maintain momentum after a second-half lightning delay.

The Cats never got started in a rematch with the Hawkeyes, a 3-1 loss on Oct. 24.

In the Big Ten tournament against Michigan, NU’s goaltending tandem allowed six goals in 14 shots.

For Didio, inconsistency in the cage was NU’s biggest weakness this year.

“We’ve got to have the performance from our goalkeepers,” she said. “That’s a missing piece we have to solve. It’s really hard for me to verbalize that any more than I have.”

Junior Kendra Mesa and sophomore Katie Hall split time at the position.

Mesa finished with a save percentage of 64.4, while Hall saved 63.6 percent of opponents’ shots. Didio sets 70 percent as the aim for her goalies.

In 2002, the Cats will benefit greatly from experience. All but one starter — midfielder Nicole Smith — will return to the lineup next fall. Senior defender Kathryn Breed, a captain who saw her playing time decrease during the conference season, is NU’s only other player that won’t be back.

On the defensive front, Lindsey Millard and Diane Provencher likely will be third-year starters in 2002. Morgan Kuhn, who was one of NU’s most active players this season, also will be back after a solid freshman campaign.

In the midfield, second-team All-Big Ten midfielder Suzi Sutton returns to the lineup, and co-captain Stacy Spenser should be healthy after leg injuries ended her season early for the second straight year. Katie Fischer, who logged 11 starts, and Juli Fomenko, one of five Cats to start every match, will return.

The key components on the NU front line — junior Michelle Cifelli, sophomore Katie Walshauser and Cooper — should benefit from a year of experience. Abby Alley, who has come off the NU bench this year, could see more action.

Entering the offseason, the Cats have stayed focused on finishing in the top four of the Big Ten standings. Five conference teams — Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa — were top-20 squads throughout the season.

“It’s quite a lofty goal, but it stays with us until we do that,” Didio said. “I’ll be here as long as it takes. I’m committed to that.”

And despite a tough 2001 campaign, the Cats remain optimistic.

“We’ll just keep working toward that goal, and when we accomplish it, we’ll find a new one,” Cooper said.