By Boyd C.M. Hayes

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On a roster full of unproven underclassmen, one player stands above the rest as a pillar of tried and true consistency for UK men’s soccer.

Junior goalkeeper Callum Irving has been selected preseason first-team All-Conference USA, and if he fulfills that prophecy, it would be his second such honor in two seasons.

Named a team captain during the offseason, the Vancouver, Canada native will be one of the few upperclassmen in head coach Johan Cedergren’s starting lineup this season. Cedergren is confident that “Cally” — Irving’s nickname — can lead his team to success on and off the field.

“Having a player who is that blessed with ability, but also has the dedication on and off the field – if you have another player that has issues that you need to resolve or give guidance to, you can always point to Cally as doing a great job,” Cedergren said.

Irving, who spent part of the summer training with the Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer, is an emerging member of the Canadian national team. That hasn’t distracted him from his UK duties, on the field or in the classroom.

Along with his first-team all-conference selection last season, which he earned with 46 saves and six shoutouts in 16 games, he was also named to the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.

Even with Irving coming into this season with a summer ankle injury, he could still play in the team’s regular season opener on the road at Wright State on Friday.

“We’ve been able to do a lot of handling and stuff like that with Cally without testing his ankle,” Cedergren said. “Cally’s also blessed with a good base level of fitness. So even though he’s been out for a certain amount of weeks, I would have no problem putting him in on Friday if that is the call that we get from the doctors.”

With 10 sophomores and 11 freshmen on the team, and a defence missing Steven Perinovic (graduated) for the first time in four years, a goalkeeper of Irving’s caliber could play a significant part in whether the Cats can improve on their 7-9-3 record from last season.

“Conference USA, I would say, is one of the top three leagues in the country, so for Cally to be a first-team (all-conference) player in our league makes him one of the three best in the country,” Cedergren said. “I’m probably a little biased, but I would say that he might be higher than that.”