I don’t like to make predictions,” said NIU soccer coach Willy Roy. “Too many things can happen.”

Roy and the Huskies are about to begin a new season in a new conference, the Mid-Continent Conference, with the idea of not looking past any opponents.

Although Roy will not make any predictions, he is confident in the ability of his team, which is coming off a 14-4-2 season including the Central Soccer Conference Tournament Championship.

“You have to be positive and realistic,” Roy said. “We have to take one game at a time.”

The new conference will offer the Huskies difficult opponents to deal with including past opponents such as the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Wisconsin-Green Bay. New opponents include powerhouses Akron University and Cleveland State.

Roy also noted that in addition to the challenge of a new conference, there is the challenge of defending a new reputation.

“Our opponents will be gunning for us,” Roy said. “Everyone will want to play their best game against us.”

Coming off of last season, the Huskies are immediately one of the favorites to win the competitive Mid-Continent Conference in 1990. “This is not a team of big-name superstars. This is a balanced team with much depth,” adds Roy.