• Championship Central | Bracket (PDF)
The 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship continues on Wednesday with a pair of semifinal matches.
No. 1 seed SIUE topped UIW while No. 2 seed HCU bested Lindenwood to setup a Championship Final between the top two seeds on Saturday.
The Championship was predetermined before the year to be held on the campus of SIUE. The Cougars repeated as regular season champions with a 8-1-1 league mark in 2024. The Cougars and No. 2 seed HCU received byes until Wednesday's semifinals.
Fans can watch the entire OVC Men's Soccer Championship on ESPN+.
#2 HCU 2, #3 Lindenwood 0
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#1 SIUE 1, #5 UIW 0
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#2 HCU 2, #3 LINDENWOOD 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Second-seeded Houston Christian University used a smothering defense to stifle third-seeded Lindenwood University 2-0 in the first of two Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinals at Bob Guekler Field at Ralph Korte Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. The Huskies posted their eighth shutout of the season to charge into Saturday's championship match against the winner of the later contest between host SIUE and Incarnate Word.
The two teams played with a very calculated approach in the first half with neither willing to give much ground. HCU managed several strong runs into the offensive end which would produce five shots and four corner kicks. Alex Aitken corralled both shots on goal by the Lions over the first 45 minutes.
In the second frame, the two teams started out with the same mindset, but an early push by HCU resulted in a Lindenwood foul and subsequent free kick from 20 yards inside the midfield stripe. Thomas Wyke would play a nice long ball to Morgan Worsfold-Gregg just inside the left side of the box. His perfect volley found Sam Zeeman on the near post for a strong header into the bottom corner past the dive of Lindenwood keeper Enzo Gil, giving HCU the one-nil advantage in the 52nd minute.
The Lions would earn a free kick of their own six minutes later on the edge of the box. Ethan Blake, the league's leading scorer would take a go, curling a strong bender around the wall but right into the waiting arms of Aitken to preserve HCU's lead.
Lindenwood would continue to step up the pace, but HCU continued to be everywhere defensively. LU would earn its first corner of the game just into the 66th minute, but the kick was overcooked for no harm. Moments later, the Lions Isaac Johnson put a dangerous ball into the box that was punched away by Aitken as he collided with Jozef Palushaj with right at 20 minutes to play.
HCU would continue to clamp down in the defensive third down the stretch. A long throw-in to the penalty box was headed away in the 74th minute by Theo Butterworth. LU would earn yet another corner in the 76th minute that was cleared out by the Huskies.
The Lions continued to throw bodies into the offensive end as the weather worsened down the stretch, but HCU was intent on controlling as much of the possession as possible. A run into the offensive end in the 79th minute reversed itself all the way back down the pitch to Alex Aitken for another buildup that ultimately resulted in another corner. Rio Pemberton's entry was batted straight back to Ricardo Garcia, who's short chip found Ethan Giwa-McNeil on the back post for the header that doubled HCU's advantage with 10 minutes remaining on the clock.
HCU would then really pack it in defensively. The protection of the final third in front of Aitken was led by several strong clearances and headers from what seemed to be multiple bodies around every ball as the Huskies put eyes on the finish line. The Lions would manage a couple of shots on goal, but each was gobbled up safely by Aitken.
Lindenwood would end the match outshooting the Huskies 13-9 overall and on goal as well, 8-2, however the two by HCU found the back of the net, resulting in the first win by either club in the series. Both previous matches during the past two regular seasons had ended in 1-1 draws and the win by HCU ends a fantastic season by the Lions, who finish 11-6-3 overall.
Aitken was brilliant in the cage once again, collecting eight saves to move into second place all-time in school history, passing former keeper and former HCU head coach Benny Agosto. It was his eighth clean sheet of the season, and the victory pushed HCU's overall mark to 8-6-5 on the season, the first campaign since 2015 with eight or more wins.
Zeeman, the OVC Defender of the Year, registered his third goal of the campaign, coming off an assist by the OVC Freshman of the Year Morgan Worsfold-Gregg and Thomas Wyke. Ethan Giwa-McNeil's tally gave him the team lead with six with Garcia getting his first assist of the season.
#1 SIUE 1, #5 UIW 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE men's soccer advanced back to the Championship game at the Ohio Valley Conference with a 1-0 semifinal win over Incarnate Word Wednesday at Korte Stadium.
The top-seeded Cougars (11-4-3) will face No. 2 seed Houston Christian for the Championship, and the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, Saturday night. Kick is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Playing through rain for much of the match, the Cougars appeared to grab an early lead when a free kick skipped into the back of the net in the sixth minute, only to be called back on an offside call.
The Cougars got on the board for real in the 31st minute thanks to a corner kick. Yasha Schaerer drove the kick to the top of the six-yard box when Nic Muench headed home for the 1-0 SIUE advantage and ultimately all the Cougars would need.
It was the third goal of the year for Muench and for Schaerer it was his team-leading eight assist of the year.
SIUE withstood increased pressure from the Cardinals in the second half. After a single shot in the first 45 minutes, UIW unloaded nine total shots in the second half and put six of those shots on frame.
Rob Gjelaj turned away all seven shots on goal and picked up his 10th shutout of the year. The 10 shutouts are tied for third most in a single season at SIUE.
The Cougars finished with nine total shots, including four on goal. Jacob Bilyeu, Patrick Coleman and Jake Karolczak each finished with two shots.