By Ben LarrisonThe Daily Northwestern
The story of Gerardo Alvarez is not your typical tale.
He was once the top scoring threat in the Big Ten, but since suffering a knee injury has yet to rediscover his shooting touch. And though he has not yet bounced back, his presence on the field is still felt.
“It’s been amazing and sad, you know what I mean?” Northwestern coach Tim Lenahan said. “Because the last two years, because of the injuries, we haven’t gotten to see probably one of the best players in Big Ten history.”
When Alvarez steps onto Lakeside Field to face No. 24 Northern Illinois today, Evanston will be getting its final look at one of the biggest impact players in NU soccer history. But when looking back on his career, the goals, assists and shots don’t fairly capture what the senior has done for the program.
When Alvarez arrived at NU, the Cats were not rebuilding. They were building. And to Lenahan, the Aurora, Ill., native was the offensive spark that his team had so desperately needed.
“Before he got here, we found a way to stay in games,” Lenahan said. “But once he got here we found a way to win those games.”
Over his freshman and sophomore seasons, Alvarez became one of the most feared scorers in the Big Ten. His conference-leading 33 points his sophomore year earned Alvarez a spot on the preseason watch list for the Hermann Trophy, given to the top player in the nation.
But in the summer before his junior year, with the expectations higher than ever for both Alvarez and NU, an injury interrupted the promising career. Struggling with a microfracture in his left knee, Alvarez played just 15 games in 2005, never at 100 percent. He underwent surgery in February, hoping to be back at full strength for his senior campaign.
Things seemed to be on track as the 2006 season began, and Alvarez logged an assist in the opener against Hofstra. But as the fall wore on, Alvarez – already out of shape because of time missed from the surgery – started feeling pain in his left ankle. After trying to play through it, he eventually had to take a few games off to allow his body to heal.
Now, Alvarez is back on the pitch, and for the first time in two years, he’s healthy.
“When G’s going on all cylinders and when he’s healthy and he’s playing the way he can play, our team is a very dangerous team,” teammate David Roth said. “We have a lot of weapons with him when he’s in the zone, and he is basically the engine that runs our team once he’s going.”
While Alvarez may be back, there is still one noticeable difference between this and previous seasons: he has yet to score a goal. Already third on the Cats’ all-time scoring list after his sophomore year, Alvarez has been unable to find the back of the net this fall despite being tied for the team lead in shots.
And though the time for heroics is nearly done, both Lenahan and Alvarez seem certain the breakthrough will come.
“I’ve had great chances, and I’ve had some pretty good plays where I could have put some away,” Alvarez said. “I just have to keep being persistent and it’s going to come. And it’s going to come at the right time.”
Reach Ben Larrison at [email protected].
