They are the original 10. They represent coach Tim Lenahan’s first recruiting class, the first to take Lenahan’s challenge to build a program at Northwestern.

In coming to Evanston, these 10 seniors took a risk. The Wildcats had won one game in the two years before they arrived.

But four seasons later, the risk has been rewarded. The seniors have brought NU to new heights, establishing it as one of the top programs in the country.

“They are pioneers of NU soccer, the architects,” junior Gerardo Alvarez said. “They’re the reason I came here. They set a great legacy.”

After going 16 straight years without a winning record, NU is on the verge of completing back-to-back seasons above .500. The Cats made the tradition of losing a distant memory, compiling a 39-30-10 record over the past four years.

NU reached its first NCAA tournament in school history last year and sits in contention for a postseason bid this year.

The reconstruction of the program began with the arrival of Lenahan in 2001. While going 1-13-3 in that first season, Lenahan also was recruiting his first class.

Along with former assistant coach Erik Ronning, Lenahan took on the task of trying to convince high school seniors to play for the Cats.

“We were trying to get players that understood the task at hand – that the road was not going to be easy,” Lenahan said. “But we also wanted players that could look back and say, ‘I helped build that.’ “

Senior midfielder Jaro Pylypczak said he came to NU because he liked the challenge, but he said Ronning, who is now the head coach at Colgate, was one of the main reasons he decided to join the Cats.

“Not one of us would be here if it wasn’t for Ronning,” Pylypczak said.

Ronning’s connection to senior defender Sammy Semwangu went back to when Semwangu was 15. Ronning was his coach on his Olympic Development Program team.

“After (Ronning) came to Northwestern, he came back to me,” Semwangu said. “I kind of gave him a hard time at first. But he really sold me on the vision he and coach Lenahan had about the program.”

Ronning said he and Lenahan set out to piece together a recruiting class that would take ownership of the program to help it grow to an unprecedented level.

In the recruiting process, Ronning said they focused on finding the “right” players rather than the best players. They looked for the players who were “winners, warriors, passionate about improving and doing things the right way.”

Of the 13 players that came to NU in the fall of 2002, 10 remain: Pylypczak, Semwangu, Eric Brin, Dan Carew, Kevin Earnest, Brad Napper, Alexander Renzi, Adam Sirois, Dave Vargas and Chris Zdenek.

“All those guys hold a very special place in my heart,” Ronning said. “They always believed in the mission. They cared about the process, about the other individuals in the locker room. These were the right kids for the program.”

Four seasons after arriving in Evanston to help lay the groundwork for the building of the program, the seniors will be honored Sunday before taking the field against Wisconsin in their last regular season home game.

All 10 will start against the Badgers.

Lenahan said Sunday will be an emotional day for him and the seniors, but he said the season isn’t over yet.

“There are a few more chapters left in their book,” Lenahan said. “And we’re looking for a happy ending to that book.”

Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].