• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – November 4 (PDF)
2025 OVC Men's Soccer Championship
St. Charles, Mo. (Hunter Stadium)
Sunday, November 9
#4 SIUE vs. #5 Western Illinois, 12:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
#3 Liberty vs. #6 Eastern Illinois, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wednesday, November 12
#1 Lindenwood vs. Winner Match 1, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
#2 HCU vs. Winner Match 2, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, November 15
Semifinal Winners, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Jireh Oyebamiji, F • 6-2, 175, Sr. • London, England • HCU
After only scoring one goal through his first three collegiate seasons, Oyebamiji scored two goals in Sunday's regular season finale win over Southern Indiana. He found the back of the net in the 54th minute in what proved to be the game-winning goal and then 10 minutes later scored again in the Senior Day victory. For the week he attempted four shots, three of which were on goal, in 73 minutes of action.
Others Nominated: Gui Gragnano, Eastern Illinois; Wes Gibson, SIUE; Paco Segura, UIW; Liam Gainey, Western Illinois.
CO-DEFENSIVE
Nana Obeng, D • 5-10, 170, R-So. • Montreal, Quebec, Canada • HCU
Obeng made the most of his 10th appearance of the season, playing 81 minutes in Sunday's 5-1 victory over Southern Indiana that clinched the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament for the Huskies. He played on a defense that did not allow a goal while he was on the pitch and also added an assist on the game-winning goal and the third goal of the match, both scored by Jireh Oyebamiji.
CO-DEFENSIVE
Nathan Bessinger, MF • 6-3, Sr. • Edwardsburg, Mich. • Western Illinois
Bessinger keyed a defense attack that allowed only one goal last week as the Leathernecks won a pair of matches to qualify for the OVC Tournament field. WIU came from behind to win at SIUE on Thursday, and the Bessinger and the Leatherneck attack shutout regular season champion Lindenwood by a 2-0 score. The senior did not come off the pitch in the two matches.
Others Nominated: Cland Iwasaki, Eastern Illinois.
CO-GOALKEEPER
Alex Aitken, GK • 6-0, 180, Sr. • Great Barford, England • HCU
Aitken earned his sixth OVC Goalkeeper of the Week honor of the season (and ninth of his career) in helping his team to a 1-0-1 record and No. 2 seed for the upcoming OVC Tournament. For the week he made seven saves and did not allow a goal in 170 minutes of action. He made five saves on Thursday in a 0-0 draw with Liberty, netting his eighth clean sheet of the season. He did not allow a goal in 80:21 of action in Sunday's win over Southern Indiana, making two saves before exiting the game on his Senior Day and earning his 10th victory of the season.
CO-GOALKEEPER
Micah Ramirez, GK • 6-0, Sr. • Plano, Texas • Western Illinois
Ramirez helped Western Illinois earn a berth in the OVC Tournament with a pair of victories the final week of the regular season. In total he played 154 minutes in goal, making 14 saves and combining for a shutout. He opened the week with five saves in a 2-1 victory at defending champion SIUE, as the Leathernecks completed the season sweep of the Cougars. In Sunday's 2-0 win over 2025 regular season champion Lindenwood, he made nine saves in 63:28 of action before having to depart with an injury and share the shutout.
Others Nominated: Alejandro De La Torre, UIW.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Wes Gibson (D, Grad.), SIUE. The defender helped the offensive attack against Eastern Illinois. Scored the game-tying goal in the 39th minute and assisted on the game-winner in the 64th minute.
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Liam Gainey (F, Sr.), Western Illinois. Scored the game-winning goal in 2-0 shutout of Lindenwood and added an assist on what proved to be the game-winner in 2-1 win at SIUE.
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Paco Segura (F, Grad.), UIW. Scored the game-winning goal against Liberty on Sunday. Also added an assist in draw with Southern Indiana to begin the week.
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Alejandro De La Torre (GK, Grad), UIW. Made five saves in two matches, including three in the final 20 minutes of a 1-0 victory over Liberty on Sunday.
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Gui Gragnano (F, Jr.), Eastern Illinois. Gragnano scored the equalizing goal in 1-1 tie at Lindenwood. It marked his fourth goal of the season.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: Lindenwood captured the OVC regular season crown, finishing 6-2-2 in OVC action this season ... They are the first Lindenwood program to win an OVC regular season championships (others had won postseason championships) in what is the fourth year for the school in the OVC ... The Lions were pre-determined to host the OVC Championship; the team is 8-0-2 at home this season ... 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) ... HCU won on the final day of the regular season to earn the No. 2 seed, and first round bye, for the second-straight season ... HCU's Alex Aitken was named OVC Goalkeeper of the Week for the sixth time this season; he has 299 career saves entering the postseason ... HCU's 10-win season is the first for the program since 2008 ... SIUE, who are back-to-back defending OVC Tournament Champions, won on the final day of the season to earn the No. 4 seed after being the No. 1 seed the previous two seasons ... Western Illinois is in the field for the second-straight season, while Liberty earned its third-straight OVC Tournament berth; both are in search of its first Tournament victory ... After missing the field last year, Eastern Illinois is back this season; the Panthers won a First Round game in 2023 ... The 2025 All-OVC Teams and individual award winners will be announced on Friday.
Lindenwood Wins Regular Season Championship: Lindenwood finished the regular season with a 6-2-2 OVC record (20 points) to claim the 2025 OVC Regular Season Championship. It was the first for the Lions in the third year of OVC soccer. The team finished second last season (2024). It is the first regular season title for the program since 2016 (MIAA), when they were members of Division II.
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.