A little less than two months since 16-year NIU soccer coach Willy Roy was fired, the NIU Athletics Department has selected a replacement.

Three candidates were interviewed last week, and one was picked as Roy’s successor, according to Assistant Athletics Director Stacey Allie, who would not release any names.

The recommendation has been put forth by the NIU Athletics Department to Human Resources for approval. Allie expects an approval and corresponding announcement of the replacement as soon as today.

“None of the three are from Illinois,” Allie said. “But all have experience rebuilding programs and have proven track records.”

NIU’s goalkeeper Steve Goletz said the team recently was informed that the new coach would be announced by the end of the week.

Both the head and assistant coaching positions will be filled since assistant coach Karsten Roy, Willy’s son, also is leaving the Huskies.

Graduate assistant Rob Berkley will leave as well, after spending the last four years with the Huskies since he transferred from Western Illinois to play at NIU from 1999 to 2001.

“We were told [by Allie] the deadline to name a replacement is Monday,” said senior goalkeeper Rasih Pala.

Strength and conditioning coach Ryan Zemen’s last day as interim coach was Saturday, which has left Pala and women’s assistant soccer coach Joe McCauley to run practices until the new coach arrives.

Winning the cup

Taking home the second-annual Governor’s Cup on Saturday, the Huskies defeated Western Illinois 2-0 and tied Eastern Illinois 0-0 in the second game.

Southern Illinois won the cup last year, but was unable to make the trip this year because of budget constraints.

The Huskies now stand at 2-1-2 during spring games, which aren’t counted toward official standings.

The Huskies also have defeated Benedictine, tied Loyola-Chicago and lost to UW-Milwaukee.

NIU’s next game is at 4 p.m. on April 23 at Huskie Soccer Field against Louis University. The Huskies then will play a doubleheader on April 27 with the first game against DePaul at 11 a.m., followed by the Fox Valley Kickers for a 2 p.m. showdown.

Davis moving on

Caleb Davis, an NIU midfielder from 1999 to 2002, will leave after debating this spring whether or not to stay for his last semester of eligibility.

A Texas native, Davis will return home to pursue a graduate degree at Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Policy at the University of Texas.

“He wanted to see where the program was going before he made his choice,” Goletz said.