Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Tim Lenahan | ||
Date of birth | c. 1959 (age 57–58) | ||
Club information | |||
Current team
|
Northwestern Wildcats (coach) | ||
Teams managed | |||
Years | Team | ||
1990–1997 | |||
1998–2000 | Lafayette Leopards | ||
2001– | Northwestern Wildcats |
Tim Lenahan is the head men's soccer coach at Northwestern University. He has been coaching there since the start of the 2001 season. He is widely regarded as one of the top coaches in the Big Ten, as he rebuilt the Northwestern program from a team that had been winless over 35 games in 2000 and 2001 to a national power. His teams have made nine NCAA tournament appearances in the past 10 years. Northwestern has earned 128 wins over the past 11 seasons, including 15 in 2004, and 14 in 2006, 12 in 2007 and 15 in 2008, and 13 in 2012.
In 2004, the 'Cats burst on to the national scene ending Indiana's 50 game Big Ten unbeaten streak. Northwestern had been 4-67-4 in Big Ten play up until the Indiana win and had not won a Big Ten game in 27 tries. The 'Cats won 15 games and qualified for the NCAA for the first time in school history. In 2006, Northwestern advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament, defeating Cincinnati, St.Louis, and UNC Greensboro in the first three rounds. They lost in the fourth round to UC Santa Barbara, 3-2 after leading the game 2–1 . Northwestern finished 8th in the final rankings thanks to their impressive tournament run. In 2007, Northwestern climbed as high as No. 3 in the NSCAA polls and earned the first bye in their history when they were seeded No. 9 in the NCAA Tournament. Dave Roth was named the first All-American in Northwestern Soccer history. 2008 saw another run to the NCAA Elite Eight and a national ranking of as high as No. 2. They remained at the ranking of No. 2 for over a month and put together a 13-game unbeaten streak to start the season. After a tough final stretch, Northwestern rebounded in the NCAA Tournament to defeat Loyola, Notre Dame and Akron before falling to North Carolina in the Elite Eight in Chapel Hill. Their final ranking of No. 7 was an all-time best. In 2009, Northwestern responded with another strong season advancing to the Sweet Sixteen and a final RPI of 9th nationally. Mark Blades became the first two-time All-American in school history. Northwestern's RPI over the four seasons from 2006–2009 ranked as the 5th best nationally trailing only Wake Forest, Indiana, Virginia and Maryland and are one of only five teams to make it as far as the Elite Eight twice in the three years between 2006 and 2008.
2011 saw Northwestern and Lenahan accomplish the rare undefeated double in winning the Big Ten Regular Season and Big Ten Tournament. In 2012, the Wildcats repeated as Big Ten Regular Season and reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. It was the fourth time Lenahan and Northwestern have reached at least the Sweet Sixteen in the last seven years. Two more NCAA Appearances followed in 2013 and 2014 with the 2014 team losing just four times in nineteen opportunities. Goalkeeper Tyler Miller became the only player in the country to be named All-America, Academic All-America and be invited to the MLS Combine.