At the end of the soccer season last year, NIU head coach Willy Roy found himself with a very large hole to fill. His goalkeeper of the last four seasons, Markus Roy, was leaving the net.

To fill Markus’ big shoes were sophomore Dan Green and junior Jeff McCall. Neither had much playing experience behind rock solid Markus, but Roy had a decision to make.

When the season started, Green got the call but soon the two platooned. After Green got off to an 0-4 start, McCall stepped up and received the starting role for the rest of the season.

In that time span, McCall boasted a 6-5-1 record in the net accounting for every Huskie victory of the season. He has saved 66 shots while only allowing 21 goals for a 1.65 goals against average.

McCall was a 1989 graduate of Wheeling High School but upon graduation, he was not planning to attend NIU. Instead, he was off to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. After playing one season of soccer there he transferred to NIU.

Coming into this season, McCall did not have a great deal of playing experience, and while he had confidence in himself, he still had to prove himself. And prove it he did, recording two shutouts in his last four matches.

“The team is young but maturing,” he said. “We’re not at the level we want to be yet. I wish we would have started playing better earlier.”

While McCall may be a junior as far as soccer is concerned, he is a true senior.

A finance major, he boasts a 3.91 grade point average. He has had three internships, one with PMA Financial and two with Baxter and is eagerly looking for a job next year. While graduate school is not out of the question, McCall would like to start working when he graduates in May.

Coach Roy would like to retain McCall, if at all possible, because he still has a year of eligibility left.

Soccer is not all of McCall’s interests, though, as he also plays volleyball at NIU. A second-year player, he has already missed the start of the season but will be back as soon as the soccer season ends.

He will head off the NIU Practice Field Sunday after the season finale and head over to Chick Evans Field House for volleyball.

McCall credits much of his success this season to his defense which, according to him, has “really picked it up a notch,” but most of the credit is his to keep.