• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – October 28 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Thursday, October 30
*Western Illinois at SIUE, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at UIW, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Lindenwood, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Liberty at HCU, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, November 2
*Lindenwood at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Liberty at UIW, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at HCU, 1:00 p.m.
*SIUE at Eastern Illinois, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Gui Gragnano, F • 5-7, Jr. • Sao Paulo, Brazil • Eastern Illinois
Gragnano scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner, as Eastern Illinois knocked off Western Illinois 3-1 on Saturday. With the game tied at one late in the second half, the junior found the back of the net at 77:00. Seven minutes later he scored again to push the advantage to 3-1.
Others Nominated: Joby Reid, HCU; Leo Conneh, Liberty; Matteo Landais, Lindenwood; Xavier Gagnon, Western Illinois.
DEFENSIVE
Leandro Haesler, D • 6-3, Sr. • Moenchengladbach, Germany • Lindenwood
Haesler played the full 90 minutes a Lindenwood recorded a 4-0 shutout against Southern Indiana on Saturday. He keyed a defense that allowed only two shots on goal and four total attempts. The senior also scored a pair of goals (41st and 90th minute) to lead the team's offensive attack. It marks the second time this season he has earned the award; overall four different Lindenwood players have been named Defensive Player of the Week in 2025.
Others Nominated: Shuntaro Endo, Eastern Illinois; Santiago Maynez, HCU; Perry Blay, Liberty.
CO-GOALKEEPER
Alex Aitken, GK • 6-0, 180, Sr. • Great Barford, England • HCU
Aitken made five saves in Friday night's 2-1 victory over in-state rival UIW. He allowed a goal in the 21st minute but shutout down the Cardinals the rest of the way, making three saves in the first half and two in the second half. It marked his ninth victory of the season, a new personal single-season best for the senior. Aitken ranks 15th nationally in save percentage (82.9%).
CO-GOALKEEPER
Gavin Roberts, GK • 6-2, Sr. • Florissant, Mo. • Lindenwood
Roberts played the first 65 minutes in Lindenwood's 4-0 victory over Southern Indiana on Saturday, combining with Quinn Closson to produce a shutout. The senior made one save to pick up his sixth victory of the season.
Others Nominated: Lucas Ortiz, Eastern Illinois.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Joby Reid (F, Fr.), HCU. Scored a goal just 2:25 into Friday's match with UIW and later assisted on the game-winner. He leads the team with six assists this season.
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Leo Conneh (F, Jr.), Liberty. Scored the first goal in Liberty's 2-1 win over SIUE. He has now scored in three of the Flames last four games. His six goals this year are a career-high.
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Matteo Landais (MF, Grad.), Lindenwood. Had a goal and assist in Lindenwood's 4-0 win over Southern Indiana. He has nine assists on the season, which is tied for sixth nationally.
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Perry Blay (D, Jr.), Liberty. Played all 90 minutes in Liberty's 2-1 win over SIUE. Held the Cougars to just seven shots and also assisted on the first goal of the match.
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Shuntaro Endo (D, Sr.), Eastern Illinois. Helped the EIU defense record a 3-1 victory over Western Illinois. After the team allowed an early goal, they limited WIU to just one shot the rest of the match.
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Santiago Maynez (D, Fr.), HCU. Part of a HCU defense that limited UIW to one goal in 2-1 victory.
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Xavier Gagnon (F, Jr.), Western Illinois. Scored the first goal of the game in Saturday's match with Eastern Illinois.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: Lindenwood is one victory away from capturing the OVC regular season championship; the team is 6-1-1 entering the week, one win away from the most conference wins of its Division I era ... The Lions can also clinch with a tie and a Liberty loss ... Overall Lindenwood has won 13 matches this season, the most of its Division I Era and most overall since 2016 (when they also won 13) ... Liberty is also locked into the six-team OVC Tournament field, while HCU can guarantee itself a spot with one more point ... HCU has nine overall wins this season, its first nine-win campaign since 2015 ... HCU's Alex Aitken now has 292 career saves, eight away from making him the first keeper in school history with 300 stops ... HCU's D’Alessandro Herrera now has 19 career assists, which ranks fourth in school history ... Eastern Illinois matched its season-high with three goals in Saturday's win over Western Illinois ... Nationally, Lindenwood ranks third in goal differential (+32), save percentage (91.4%) and shutout percentage (68.8%), eighth in points/game (7.5), ninth in assists/game (2.75) and 12th in scoring offense (2.38 goals/game), Liberty is seventh in shots on goal/game (7.25), HCU is 12th in save percentage (82.9%) while Southern Indiana is second in saves/game (6.27) and 11th in shot accuracy (49.1%).
Lifferth Sets OVC Record For Points in a Game, Ties Mark for Goals: Liberty senior
Zach Lifferth set a new OVC single match record with seven points (3 goals, 1 assist) in his team's 6-1 win over Southern Indiana on September 27. His three goals tied the OVC record (held by three others) and came on his first three shots of the game, all in the first half.
UIW Knocks Off No. 18 SMU: UIW scored a 2-1 victory over No. 18 ranked SMU on September 8. UIW scored in the 14th minute and led 1-0 until SMU tied the match on a penalty kick in the 79th minute. Eight minutes later Noe Robles scored a goal off an assist from Giovanni Padilla to lift the Cardinals to the victory.
Liberty Sets OVC Single Match Record for Goals: Liberty scored nine goals (eight in the second half) in a season-opening victory over Regent on August 21. It broke the previous OVC record of eight goals set by Lindenwood in 2023 (vs. UHSP).
Third Season of OVC Men's Soccer: This year marks the third 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.
2025 OVC Tournament: The 2025 OVC Men's Soccer Championship will be held on the campus of Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri for the first time. The top six seeds 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 Postseason Play: Lindenwood and Southern Indiana completed their reclassification to Division I this past summer and are now eligible for NCAA Tournament berths. The two schools finished the transition in a new expediated three-year timeline.
SIUE Picked as 2025 OVC Preseason Favorite: Two-time defending regular season and tournament champion SIUE was predicted the preseason favorite for the 2025 OVC men's soccer season. The Cougars, who claimed both championships during each the 2023 and 2024 seasons, picked up 14 of 16 first-place votes and 98 points in the poll of league head coaches and communications directors. SIUE is 17-1-2 in Conference play in the first two years of men's soccer in the OVC. HCU, who lost to SIUE in double overtime in last year's tournament title game, picked up the other two first-place votes and 69 points in being tabbed second. They were followed by Lindenwood (67), Liberty (64), UIW (55), Western Illinois (39), Eastern Illinois (38) and Southern Indiana (18).
UTRGV to Join OVC as Men's Soccer Affiliate in 2026: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) will join the OVC as a men's soccer affiliate beginning with the 2026 season. The addition of Vaqueros gives the OVC its third men’s soccer institution in the state of Texas. Located in Edinburg, Texas, the program spent 10 seasons in the WAC before becoming an Independent for the 2025 season.
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. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for $11.99 a month (or $119.99 per year) as part of the ESPN Select Plan or as part of a bundle with Disney+ and ad-supported Hulu. ESPN+ is an integrated part of the ESPN App (on mobile and connected devices). More information can be found at www.OVCSports.com/ESPN.