• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – November 5 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
2024 OVC Men’s Soccer Championship
Edwardsville, Ill. (Ralph Korte Stadium)
Sunday, November 10
#3 Lindenwood vs. #6 Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
#4 Liberty vs. #5 UIW, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wednesday, November 13
Winner Match 1 vs.
#2 HCU, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Winner Match 2 at
#1 SIUE, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, November 16
Semifinal Winners, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Anis Smajlovic, F • 6-1, 169, Jr. • St. Louis, Mo. • Lindenwood
Smajlovic tallied two goals and an assist in Sunday's regular season finale against Southern Indiana (a 7-0 Lindenwood win). He added an assist in the 63rd minute, scored his first goal a minute later and capped his scoring with the seventh Lindenwood goal of the game in the 89th minute. That marked his third goal and first assist of the 2024 season.
Others Nominated: Michael Huss, Liberty; Karson Gibbs, SIUE; Cesar "Danny" Elizalde, UIW.
DEFENSIVE
Noe Bijou, D • 5-11, 175, Sr. • Nancy, France • Lindenwood
Bijou played the second most minutes (160) of any Lindenwood defender as the team won a pair of games via shutout as the Lions locked up the No. 3 seed for the OVC Tournament. In Sunday's 7-0 win over Southern Indiana, the senior helped the defense allow just four total shots, none of which were on goal. It marked the sixth OVC shutout of the season for Lindenwood, the second-most in the Conference.
Others Nominated: Carlos Trott, Liberty; Wes Gibson, SIUE; Dylan Navarijo, UIW.
GOALKEEPER
Rob Gjelaj, GK • 6-2, 185, Grad. • Romeo, Mich. • SIUE
Gjelaj earned his sixth OVC Goalkeeper of the Week honor of the season after helping SIUE to a 2-0-0 week and the outright OVC regular season championship. The graduate played all 180 minutes in two road games, allowing one goal while making eight saves and recording a shutout (his ninth of the season). Gjelaj made three saves in a come-from-behind victory over Southern Indiana and added five saves in a clean sheet against Eastern Illinois. Nationally, he ranks second in save percentage (83.7%) and shutouts (9), 14th in total saves (72), 21st in goals against average (0.84) and 26th in saves/game (4.24).
Others Nominated: Enzo Gil, Lindenwood; Alejandro De La Torre, UIW.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Karson Gibbs (MF/F, Jr.), SIUE. Scored twice in season finale victory at Eastern Illinois.
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Cesar "Danny" Elizalde (MF, Jr.), UIW. Scored the game-winning goal on Thursday at Western Illinois and added an assist in draw with Liberty on Sunday.
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Michael Huss (F, Sr.), Liberty. Had three shots on goal during the week, including netting his OVC-leading 11th goal of the season in a tie with UIW on Sunday.
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Enzo Gil (GK, So.), Lindenwood. Helped Lindenwood to a pair of shutouts during the week, playing all 180 minutes and making four saves.
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Alejandro De La Torre (GK, Grad.), UIW. In a pair of road games, made six saves and recorded a shutout against Western Illinois in a 1-0-1 week.
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Wes Gibson (D, Grad.), SIUE. Played 174 minutes in two SIUE victories, as the team allowed only one goal and locked up the OVC regular season crown.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: The 2024 OVC Men's Soccer Tournament will be held for the second-straight year on the campus of SIUE ... Of the six teams that made the field, two are making its first appearance in the event - HCU (who was seventh in the standings last year, missing out by one point) and Western Illinois (who is in its first year in the league this season) ... Western Illinois is making its first postseason appearance since the 2019 season ... SIUE claimed its second-straight OVC regular season crown after finishing 8-1-1 in league play ... Lindenwood recorded six shutouts in league play and is 4-0-2 over its last six matches; Enzo Gil, the Lions goalkeeper, had seven overall shutouts on the, the most by a Lindenwood keeper since 2012 ... Lindenwood has scored an OVC-best 37 goals on the season, the most for the program since 2018 ... UIW enters the postseason with an eight-match unbeaten streak (going 3-0-5) ... Liberty's Michael Huss scored his career-high and OVC-leading 11th goal of the season in the regular season finale; his goal total is the most by a Flame since Kevin Mendoza scored 12 goals in 2018 ... USI’s goalkeeper Andrew Klott set an Eagles’ single season record with 109 saves in 2024 ... The 2024 All-OVC teams and award winners will be announced on Friday (Nov. 8) afternoon.
SIUE Wins Regular Season Championship: SIUE claimed its second-straight OVC regular season championship, finishing the year 8-1-1 to tally 25 points (five points ahead of Lindenwood). In two years of OVC men's soccer, the Cougars are 17-1-2 overall in league play.
2024 OVC Tournament: The 2024 OVC Men's Soccer Championship will be held on the campus of SIUE in Edwardsville, Illinois for the second-straight season. The top six seeds will make the field, with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds getting byes to the semifinals. The eight OVC men's soccer teams are divided into two scheduling pods, with each team playing the other teams in its pod twice during the season, and teams in the other pod once. The tournament format gives the winner of each pod a first round tournament bye. Seeds 3-6 are based on total points, regardless of scheduling pod.
All Teams Eligible for OVC Tournament: Both reclassifying teams, Lindenwood and Southern Indiana, are eligible to compete and win the OVC Tournament Championship this season. Should a transitioning school win an OVC Tournament Championship, the AQ shall be awarded to the tournament runner-up. Should the tournament runner-up also be a transitioning school, the AQ representative shall be the semifinalist that had the highest remaining seed going into the tournament.
Second Season of OVC Men's Soccer: This year marks the second season of OVC men's soccer, which was announced as the league's 19th sport in March 2023. Five OVC institutions currently field men’s soccer teams: Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood, SIUE, Southern Indiana and Western Illinois. In addition, Houston Christian (HCU), Incarnate Word (UIW) and Liberty are affiliate members, giving the OVC eight men’s soccer programs. This is the first year for WIU in the league (they competed in the Summit League last season).
SIUE Picked as 2024 OVC Preseason Favorite: Defending regular season and tournament champion SIUE was predicted the preseason favorite ahead of the 2024 OVC men's soccer season. The Cougars picked up 11 of 16 first-place votes and 95 points in the poll of league head coaches and communications directors. Liberty picked up three first-place votes and 79 points in being tabbed second, followed by UIW (67 points), Lindenwood (66) and HCU (59 points and the final two first-place votes). The poll was rounded out Eastern Illinois (36 points), newcomer Western Illinois (25) and Southern Indiana (21).
ESPN+: The OVC has a media rights deal with ESPN to air games on ESPN+, the multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company Direct-to-Consumer & International segment. This season over 200 men’s and women’s basketball regular season Conference games and non-conference games will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for $10.99 a month (or $109.99 per year) or as part of a bundle with Disney+ and ad-supported Hulu ($15.99/month). ESPN+ is an integrated part of the ESPN App (on mobile and connected devices). More information can be found at www.OVCSports.com/ESPN.