It’s been more than three years since the Northwestern soccer team last won a Big Ten game, but like Joe Namath in Super Bowl III and Jamal Lewis two weeks ago against the Browns, Jeremy Cook has a prediction.
“We’re going to win a conference game this year,” the senior midfielder said.
Cook joined the team a year after its last conference win, a 2-0 victory over Wisconsin in the first round of the 1999 Big Ten Tournament. Since then, the Wildcats have dropped 22 straight decisions to conference foes.
NU (3-2-3) will look to break that streak Sunday afternoon when it faces Michigan State. The Cats, coming off an eight-win season in 2002, believe they can win a Big Ten game this season, whether it comes against the Spartans or another opponent.
Beating Michigan State, one of the top teams in conference, will be a tall order for NU. The Spartans (3-2-1) come to Evanston fresh off a 1-1 tie with No. 21 Indiana, a perennial Big Ten powerhouse.
That tie was unusually special for Michigan State, which broke the Hoosiers 36-game conference winning streak, dating back to the 1996 season. Before the game the Spartans had lost 30 straight games to Indiana.
While Michigan State has struggled against Indiana, they have not had similiar troubles against NU. In the all-time series between the two teams, the Spartans have won 22 of 25 games.
The Cats might not be ready to break their conference winning streak Sunday, but head coach Tim Lenahan promises the game will be competitive — something that hasn’t always happened in NU soccer games.
“We’re just going to go out and play hard,” Lenahan said. “We’re a couple years away from peaking, but we’re going to play well on Sunday.”
Michigan State is led by goalkeeper Mike Robinson, who earned the Big Ten Defensive Player the Week award for his play against Indiana. Robinson, a senior, carries a 0.97 goals against average into Sunday’s action.
Robinson will have a tough challenge against NU’s offense, which has already exploded for 14 goals — just two shy of its mark for the entire 2002 season. The offensive attack is led by freshman Gerardo Alvarez, who already has six goals.
That Cats, who regularly started seven freshman last year, are more mature than they were in 2002. Now, with seven second-year starters, the players say the experience should translate into a few more wins.
“Now we have a year under our belts with the system and we’re much better,” sophomore Brad Napper said.
Napper has only faced one losing season, but he’s optimistic that this year’s crop of underclassmen will break NU’s long streak.
“The guys are ready for it,” he said. “Hopefully the momentum will carry us through.”
NU is currently on a three-game winning streak. During the streak, the Cats have outscored their opponents 6-2. But all those victories came against teams from outside the Big Ten.
But that isn’t stopping Cook from remaining optimistic.
“We’re on a little bit of a roll here,” he said.
