Saturday’s gray sky was certainly no indication of how the NIU soccer team fared in its exhibition game with the Chicago Power.

The Huskies used their enthusiasm and youthfulness to take a 3-1 decision from the Power, a professional team that played in the American Indoor Soccer League Championship last season.

NIU coach Willy Roy got together with Chicago Power coach Derek Spalding about three months ago and set up the exhibition game. Also, a few players from the Power were pupils of Roy when he was at the helm of the Chicago Sting.

“Willy got me my first start in Chicago and made soccer a part of my life,” said Brett Hall, captain of the Power. Hall played seven years under Roy for the Sting and now coaches soccer at St. Charles High School in the off season.

The Chicago Power plays in the Indoor League, but playing out doors didn’t hurt them.

“No, (playing on the grass field) didn’t hurt us,” said Spalding, who also played for Roy in Chicago. “We have some young players, but some experienced ones as well. But we’re professionals. It shouldn’t have hurt us”.

The two coaches are teammates on an over-30-years of-age team and were scheduled to play a game in the evening following the NIU-Chicago match-up.

Spalding was impressed with the enthusiasm of the NIU Huskies and the exceptional play of sophomore Per Ekholdt.

“I wish I could get my players to be half as enthusiastic,” Spalding said. “They played really well as a team. (Ekholdt) held the ball well and drove the ball up well,”

In his third year as the Huskie coach, Roy feels he has the right people to play soccer the way he wants them to. And Hall agreed with Roy.

“Willy’s got them playing his type of soccer. It’s easy to teach just kick and run soccer, but Willy finally got them to play his type of soccer with a lot of passes and touch-and-go, which is a lot more difficult to coach.” Hall was also one of the players Roy mentioned in his induction speech for the Hall of Fame.

In the exhibition game, Willy Roy Jr. scored two goals and Per Ekholt scored the first goal.

“Getting that first goal gave us the confidence that we needed. After that, we knew we could stay with them,” said sophomore Karsten Roy, who made the first assist in the game. “At first, we were scared to play a professional team. We’ve watched them play before and knew they were a good team. Beating them was a great boost for us.”

Willy Roy said, “I’m grateful for the Power for coming out here and playing us. Win or lose, it was a great experience for our team. I hope that we can make this an annual thing.”

Spalding, although disappointed by the performance of his young team, said, “It was nice to come here and help out a college program. They (NIU) got a very good team here and hopefully they can carry this success into the season.

See Power Page 31

Power

Continued from Page 32