This is the year identical twins, Marcus and Karsten Roy, step out of their big brother’s shadow.

For the past three years Marcus, a goalie, and Karsten, a sweeper, have been the anchors of the NIU soccer team’s defense, while big brother Willy Roy Jr. wreaked havoc on opposing defenses. Now with the boisterous Willy Jr. gone, the burden of leadership falls on the twins, who are celebrating their 21st birthday today.

“It’ll be a different type of leadership this year,” Marcus said. “We don’t have Willy to rely on any more. It has to be a team effort this year.”

Only team effort can replace the offense Willy Jr. provided NIU for the last four years. Just last season, Willy Jr., who now kicks for the NIU football team, led the nation in assists with 18 and was ranked seventh in scoring with 48 goals.

But all the success Willy Jr. enjoyed brought animosity towards him by some of his teammates. One of the players described it as a love-hate relationship. They loved what he did on the field. But they felt Willy Jr.‘s achievements were overshadowing the team’s success.

Even the brothers were feuding. “A couple years ago we hated each other,” Willy Jr. said. “You know how brothers are. We had different points of view.”

But you can’t argue with results. Under Willy Jr.’s leadership, NIU won conference titles in the Big Central in 1989 and Mid-Continent in 1990.

Now it’s up to the twins to lead the Huskies to the next level. NIU was overlooked by the NCAA selection committee for post-season play despite a 14-4-2 record in 1989 and 13-5-2 mark in 1990.

But with 11 returning lettermen this season—including six four-year veterans—and two impact freshmen, the twins are quietly confident.

All the twins have to do is bring it all together, like they’ve been doing all their lives. Marcus and Karsten have won youth soccer state cups twice at age 16 and 19. They also reached the Super Sectionals of the IHSA Tournament at Fenton High School.

They’ve shared the same successes, same hair, same voice and same personality. The only hope of telling them apart was Karsten’s braces, but he had them removed over the summer.

Now the only way tell them apart is on the soccer field where Marcus—as a goalie—wears a different uniform than anyone else. But even their performances are identical: both exceptional at their positions.

As a kid, Marcus got the bum deal as far as positions are concerned. Nobody likes playing goalie. “I got stuck in goal because of my brothers,” Marcus said. “Someone had to take the shots and someone had to save the shots.”

Of course there was a legitimate reason why Marcus got stuck between the posts. “Willy was bigger,” Karsten said.

“He was the biggest with the big shot so he always played up front, and I always ended up playing midfield or the back.”

But Karsten and Marcus made the best of their situations. Marcus was the seventh leading goalie in the nation last year, allowing 26 goals in 20 matches. He had 72 saves and netted eight shutouts.

“Marcus is a complete goalkeeper,” father and coach Willy Roy Sr. said. “He has great range. He can come out of the box and cover the net as well as anybody.

But a goalie is only as good as his defense. And under Karsten’s direction the defense has always been solid.

Without Karsten there would’ve been more games like Illinois State last year. The Redbirds stung the Huskies for four goals, the most allowed by NIU in 1990.

“We missed Karsten a lot that game,” coach Roy said. “Karsten is probably the best one-touch player on the team. He reads situations very well which makes him a great passer.”

Karsten should improve his one-goal, two-assist offensive performance last year since he will be taking all the penalty shots this year—a responsibility he inherits from big brother.

“Hopefully, I’ll make ‘em all,” Karsten said. “Now that we’re seniors, it’ll be up to us to take over in tight games. We have to realize that Willy won’t be there to bail us out anymore.”