If you don’t think sports and sex are tied together, try attending a Northwestern men’s soccer game. There were more females in attendance than any sorority date party Thursday, and I’m pretty sure the majority of them wasn’t there to watch the enthralling game of soccer on a chilly, windy day on the Lakefill.
Even after the NU fell 1-0 to Ohio State in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, I saw more smiles in the crowd than I’ve ever seen after a loss.
But walking off the field may have been the most dejected group of players I have ever seen. And later at the press conference, every member of the NU delegation came in with red eyes following a prolonged postgame meeting.
“This is a special group of guys up here,” NU coach Tim Lenahan said. “We’re emotional because of what all of these guys have accomplished.”
This was the end of the road for 10 NU seniors, including the three players sitting at the interview table. One-by-one, Brad Napper, Jaro Pylypczak and Dave Vargas looked back on their four seasons.
Despite NU’s last place finish in the Big Ten and the Cats’ NCAA tournament hopes all but dashed, Pylypczak said he was still pleased with what he and the rest of his classmates had accomplished. Because of the conference’s brief six-game schedule, NU finished two games out of second place and spent the second half of its season on the bubble for the NCAAs.
“Of course we would have liked to have finished with a little bit better ending,” Pylypczak said. “We gave it what we had, and unfortunately, it didn’t work out.”
But the tears didn’t come just because of disappointment. As upset as the Cats were with their play, they realized just the same that they had started a soccer tradition at a school sorely lacking one when Lenahan arrived at NU in 2001.
Only five years ago if they had defeated the Cats 1-0, the Buckeyes would have been furious with their low scoring output. Now, the Ohio State players had a deep look of relief on their faces after defeating a team that had lost only one other time on its home field this season.
And though the program’s pioneers are gone, the future belongs to more talented classes, according to Lenahan. Juniors Gerardo Alvarez, John Carlstedt, Daniel Chille and Brad North lead the group of returners for next season, while the incoming freshmen are projected as “surprising” in their level of play.
“Those guys have to learn to get their heart and their committment like (the seniors) do from day one. We’ve had to scrap and claw and play our way to do things for four years,” Lenahan said. “These guys set the mark as far as committment is concerned, so hopefully these younger guys have been paying attention.”
The seniors may have played their final game at NU, but the memory of these 10 trailblazers will live on for many years to come. Anything the Cats accomplish next year and many after that should rightfully be attributed to these risk takers.
“To get players of this caliber to commit to a program that hadn’t won a game in 35 games four years ago, it takes a special committment on their part,” Lenahan said. “That’s what we’re kind of celebrating here.
“The last chapter wasn’t a happy ending, but the book itself is a masterpiece.”
Deputy Sports Editor Zach Silka is a Medill junior. He can be reached at [email protected].
