The Northwestern men’s soccer team has played 69 regular-seasongames against Big Ten opponents in its 24-year history. It has wononly four of them.

This weekend, the Wildcats will try to win one more when theytake on Michigan State (5-2) in their first conference match of theseason.

The Cats (6-2-1) have their best record and most prolificoffense in years, and they travel to East Lansing, Mich., on Sundaylooking for their first regular-season Big Ten win since 1999.

Sophomore Gerardo Alvarez, who leads the conference in goals andpoints, said his team has a chance to come home victorious.

“We know we can beat Michigan State,” the forward said. “We’replaying a lot better this year, and we’re going to have a lot moreconfidence for this game.”

NU finished at the bottom of the seven-team conference lastyear, but improved on its 0-6 records in its previous threecampaigns. The Cats were 0-3-3 in the conference and upset Michiganwith a 2-1 Big Ten Tournament win.

This fall, they are fourth in wins heading into conferenceplay.

“This year, it’s not just showing up and making adjustments tothe other team,” coach Tim Lenahan said. “They have to deal with usnow, too.”

Not only does NU have the Big Ten’s leading scorer, it also hasmore points, goals, assists and saves than any other team in theconference.

But the eight teams the Cats have played so far have beenmediocre, and they have been able to get away with wildgoal-scoring contests. Play in the Big Ten, one of the nation’selite conferences, is more competitive and also more defensive.

“I’m not really surprised (by our offensive success so far),”Lenahan said. “We’ve played a pretty open style, and we have somegood attacking players. But right now we need to tighten updefensively.”

Tightening up is going to be difficult for NU, which has allowedmore goals in its last three games than in its previous sixmatches. The Cats’ defenders will keep their eyes on MichiganState’s leading scorer, John Minagawa-Webster, who is right behindAlvarez in conference points.

The Spartans, who have four shutouts in their seven games, willpose a challenge for the rampant Cats’ offense. The Cats areaveraging 2.56 goals a game, good for 13th in the nation.

But NU will be without starter Will Nicholas, who recently brokehis leg in a season-ending injury. Nicholas scored one of the twogoals in last season’s tourney victory.

“We need his energy,” Alvarez said of Nicholas. “He was ourfuel.”

Coach Lenahan said Thursday he didn’t know who would replaceNicholas in the lineup.

Reach Courtney McCarty at [email protected].

NU (6-2-1) vs. Michigan State (5-2)

When: Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Where: East Lansing, Mich.