Tim Lenahan remembers the banquet at the 2000 Big Ten tournament. That’s when a player from another Big Ten team spoke of his most embarassing college moment — losing to Northwestern.
Lenahan, then the Wildcats’ first year coach, vowed that no one would ever again make a similar statement about NU soccer. So when the seventh-seeded Cats beat second-seeded Michigan 2-1 on Thursday, Lenahan wanted to make sure the Wolverines weren’t ashamed.
“It’s no embarssment to lose to Northwestern,” he said. “We’re a good team.”
Still, the Cats (7-6-6, 1-3-2 Big Ten) pulled a major upset, shocking No. 23 Michigan (13-6-0, 5-2-0) in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. It was the Cats first conference win in 20 games, dating back to the second-to-last game of the 1999 season.
When it was over, NU’s players met at midfield, jumped up and down and hugged one another.
“Everyone was cheering,” sophomore Kevin Earnest said. “Guys had tears in their eyes.”
Things started auspiciously for the Cats, as Will Nicholas scored the first goal just three minutes into the first half. Nicholas took a pass from fellow freshman Dan Chille and knocked a left-footed shot past goal keeper Peter Dzubay.
Before Nicholas’ goal, the Cats hadn’t held a lead in a Big Ten game since Oct. 29, 2000, a match they lost 2-1 to Michigan.
“I think everyone was a little caught off guard,” Earnest said. “We all kind of looked at each other and we were like, ‘all right.”‘
The Cats added a goal just 90 seconds before halftime, when freshman Gerardo Alvarez scored on a breakaway, shooting the ball to the right of Dzubay.
“They were all chasing me down,” Alvarez said of his teammates. “I was just swarmed by everybody.”
Alvarez was also named Big Ten co-Freshman of the Year and earned second-team All-Big Ten honors.
At the break, Lenahan told his team not to become too complacent in the second half. NU didn’t need any more goals, but the coach wanted to make sure the Cats didn’t just play defensively.
The Wolverines did come out strong, outshooting NU 10-4 in the final 45 minutes. Michigan managed a goal in the 64th minute, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Cats’ lead.
“It was a little bit tough, they came at us,” Alvarez said. “But we weren’t going to give it up. In no way were we going to let it go.”
The win was especially sweet for NU because some of the Cats were offended by the Wolverines’ excessive celebration on Oct. 17, when Michigan beat NU 2-1.
After spurning Michigan’s scholarship offer, freshman goalkeeper Justin Pines was thrilled to beat the Wolverines. Just a year ago, he took a leap of faith, joining a team with an all-time Big Ten record of 4-59.
“There was something about the look in everyone in our team’s eyes,” said Pines, who made five saves in his third college start. “We wanted it so much more than they did.”
The Cats’ win advances them to tonight’s semifinal, where they’ll face Penn State (8-10, 2-5). The Nittany Lions, the tournament’s sixth seed, upset Michigan State 2-1 on Thursday afternoon.
Earlier in the season, NU fell 3-1 to Penn State in State College, Pa. But the Nittany Lions have struggled since then, dropping eight of their last 12 games.
With so much at stake — the winner of tonight’s game will play in the championship match — there was little time for celebrating Thursday night.
“I’m just going to watch a little TV and get a good night sleep,” Alvarez said. “We have a couple of good ones left. We’re not done yet.”
