The men’s soccer team has a tradition of being bad. Really bad.

Before this fall, the team had an 138-253-42 record, ended only four seasons above .500 and finished last in the Big Ten in all but two seasons.

“It’s a monumental task, undoing 25 years of negative misperception of NU soccer,” coach Tim Lenahan said.

But it’s a task Lenahan has tackled head-on. He was hired in 2001 to coach a program that went winless in its previous season.

Following a tough 1-13-3 first season and a pair of mediocre campaigns, Lenahan this season turned Northwestern into a 12-4-2 team whose offense is ranked 20th in the nation and whose defense cut last year’s goals allowed by 20 percent.

In the Big Ten, NU picked up its first conference win since 1999, beat defending national champion No. 4 Indiana and finished third in the conference.

The Wildcats were ranked No. 25 last month in their first national ranking in program history.

The Cats’ historic season suggests they may reach the NCAAs — which they’ve never done before — and they have their first legitimate shot at taking this year’s Big Ten tournament.

The third-seed Cats will meet Penn State, which finished sixth in the conference, in Ann Arbor, Mich., today. In the last meeting between the two teams, Penn State forced a 2-2 tie by scoring twice in the final 44 seconds.

But the Cats would not even have hope for a tournament win if not for their coach. Lenahan is known for assembling teams from scratch and lifting them into success.

“I build programs,” Lenahan said with his confident smirk. “That’s what I do.”

As head coach at his alma mater, Richard Stockton College, Lenahan turned a 2-15 team into a national power that made four Division III tournament appearances in his eight years there.

Lenahan worked his magic again at Lafayette College, taking the Leopards in one season from a 4-12 club to a team with a 16-5 record and Patriot League regular- and post-season titles. That season, he was a finalist for a coach-of-the-year award.

In Lenahan’s first season at NU, the team had one win. Players had problems adjusting to Lenahan from the system of their former coach, Michael Kunert, who went 104-207-29 in his 10 years at NU.

The team had to adjust to Lenahan’s higher expectations and his demand for an increased commitment and work ethic, senior Derek Schneider said. Although Schneider stayed, 10 of 12 players from his recruiting class left the team.

“Some just weren’t up for the challenge and the full commitment,” Schneider said. “Playing was harder now and at a different level.”

So Lenahan recruited his own players, selling his team’s motto of “building something special.” He wasn’t looking for the most talented players, but the ones with the “intangibles” and the ones devoted to turning around NU’s program.

In the next two seasons, the Cats went 8-12-0 and 7-7-6. Lenahan wasn’t satisfied. He wanted faster results.

He was frustrated because his team didn’t match the idealized team in his head.

“I know how the story’s going to turn out,” Lenahan said. “I know there will be success. But the players don’t know that. They don’t know that the book for success has already been written.”

Lenahan’s job in those first few years was to coach “almost like a dictatorship,” telling players exactly what to do and ingraining confidence in them.

But now he has given the players more ownership in the team. They’ve become partners, Lenahan said.

“But when they forget we’re in a partnership, I have to remind them,” he said.

You can hear Lenahan reminding his players who is boss every time the Cats take the field. If a player does something wrong, he’ll hear about it from the coach. And so will the fans in the bleachers.

Players say their coach stresses strong discipline, commitment and a “blue-collar” work ethic, but he doesn’t forget to be their friend.

“He’ll yell at you when you do something wrong, but he’ll compliment you, too,” junior Brad Napper said.

But Lenahan will keep after his players until they play as well as he knows they’re able to.

“We’ve had a breakthrough season,” Lenahan said. “But there’s still a focus to push forward with the program.”

Reach Courtney McCarty at [email protected].

NU (12-4-2, 3-2-1 Big Ten) vs. Penn State (10-3-7, 1-3-2)

When: 10:45 a.m. Today

Where: Ann Arbor, Mich.