Crown them with many crowns, and call them champions.

The NIU soccer team restored faith among its fans by capturing the 17th annual Illinois Governor’s Cup Tournament over the weekend with solid victories over Western Illinois and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

In the championship match played Sunday, NIU gave the Cougars of SIU-E, who are ranked 15th in the nation, a stunning 2-0 loss in front of 300 spirited fans at Huskie Stadium. The win marked only the second time the Huskies won the tournament.

Those who remained for the post-game affairs witnessed a thrilled coach Willy Roy boot a soccer ball into the seats for his devoted fans.

Coach Roy felt the victory was much needed and a plus for the NIU athletic program.

“I’m happy because I felt it was a total team project. There is a new winning attitude—all the programs are really on an uplift. Our championship is just another feather in the cap for Northern Illinois,” Roy said.

The MVP of the tournament was freshman Karsten Roy who displayed not only his defensive ability but also his offensive talent with two goals during Saturday’s game.

The first half of the championship match was a back-and-forth affair on the field. If there had to be a first-half winner it would have been SIU-E.

However, the tide turned in the second half in favor of the Huskies.

Blue-chip freshman John Lechner started the scoring about 15 minutes into the second half with a goal from 14 yards in front of the net on the assist from Karsten Roy.

With just under ten minutes left in the game, Vincent Matthews bought the Huskies some insurance with an unassisted goal from 15 yards to secure the win.

The defense played well in order to give the Huskies a shutout, and Markus Roy was at his finest—stopping nine direct shots—many of which enabled the crowd to relax.

On Saturday, NIU was able to earn its spot in the championship match by defeating WIU 5-0 in a steady rain.

The Huskies took the field and did not waste any time setting the tempo of the game.

Once again, Lechner started the scoring only three minutes into the game with a 16-yard shot. Willy Roy Jr. was given the assist on the initial Huskie goal.

Four minutes later, Karsten Roy tapped one in from six yards on the assist from Lechner to give NIU a 2-0 lead.

Jim Corno made it 3-0 on an unassisted goal with 16:43 off the clock.

Karsten gave himself another goal on a free kick following a foul by a Leatherneck.

NIU was able to take it easy during the second half. Only the unassisted goal of Mike Skvarla was added to the score giving the Huskies the win and goalie Jeff Tweedel a shutout.

Tweedel’s appearance was a surprise to many fans who expected to see Markus Roy. However, Tweedel fit the bill after coach Roy made some position changes which made Markus a midfielder for much of the second half.

The Huskies’ championship game against SIU-E can be seen tonight at 8 p.m. on SportsVision.

Eastern Illinois, who lost to SIU-E on Saturday, handed WIU a 3-1 loss in the consolation game of the tournament.