NIU soccer coach Willy Roy’s 1989 squad accomplished a feat that has always been elusive in the world of sports: they retired as champions.

Last season’s 14-4-2 mark, a record for most NIU soccer victories, was capped off by a 2-1 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the Big Central Conference’s championship match.

Now, because of NIU’s switch in conference affiliation, the Huskies will be vying for the top spot in the Mid-Continent Conference. Can Roy’s boys do it again?

“We had a great time talking about last year,” Roy said, “but this year is this year and I think there’s going to be a lot more demand on our team this year because we’re not an unknown commodity.

“People know us and they are going to play tough against us every game. We have a tougher schedule by joining the Mid-Continent, we added teams like Akron, Cleveland State, and we still play the former (Big Central) conference teams.”

But with 10 of 11 starters and 19 lettermen returning, the Huskies will not exactly be playing David to their opponents Goliath.

“I have a lot of confidence, we have a lot of good young men coming back. They know the system already and we have some nice recruits coming in so the competition level will be good,” Roy said. “I think the important thing for us is to stay healthy.”

Among the players that the fourth-year coach will be counting on are son/forward Willy Roy Jr. (7 goals_11 assists), son/goalie Markus Roy (0.77 GAA, 11 shutouts), son/defender Karsten Roy (3 goals_4 assists), non-son/forward Per Ekholdt (10 goals_3 assists), and non-son/defender Frank Sparacino (6 goals_6 assists).

Other returning starters for the Huskies, who begin play at home on Sept. 2 against Bradley, are defenders Tony Adolfs and Dusty Showers, midfielders John Lechner, Walid Fikri, James Ehrlich and Todd Moore, and forward Dave Weichman.

And although the Huskies return basically the same squad as last seasons’ with the benefit of another year of competition under their belt, Roy would be happy to just match 1989’s win total.

“If we finish with basically the same record we had last year I’d be satisfied, because we only have eight home games and 12 road games.

“My goal is for us to finish in the top three in the conference because we’re a newcomer,” Roy said. “We’re going to have some losses. NCAA soccer is not the kind of sport where you go undefeated.”

The Huskies might feel like an undefeated record is what they will need to get an NCAA post-season bid after being snubbed last season.

“It’s like baseball, you’ll win some and you’ll lose some, but if we win most of our home games and go .500 on the road or a little better, we should have a shot. If we finish with the same kind of record (as last season’s), we should get an NCAA bid.”

Roy did take some time out from shaping his team into an NCAA contender this summer to watch the World Cup soccer action from Italy.

“Since the U.S. didn’t win, I have to be biased and say I was glad to see Germany win, for more than one reason,” said the German native. “They really were the best soccer team in the tournament.”

And as for Roy’s rumored possible involvement in the U.S. based 1994 World Cup: “I think I have such a short last name that it’s easy to put into type (so) they always keep throwing my name into that,” Roy said.

“I think it’s somewhat premature, but if the time is right, I certainly wouldn’t mind helping the U.S as a consultant or whatever would help soccer in the U.S. become better.”