• Championship Central | Bracket (PDF)
The 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship got underway on Sunday with a pair of quarterfinal matches. No. 3 seed Liberty and No. 4 seed SIUE won to advance to Wednesday's semifinal round.
No. 4 seed SIUE will face off with No. 5 seed Western Illinois while No. 3 seed Liberty plays No. 6 seed Eastern Illinois.
The Championship was predetermined before the year to be held on the campus of Lindenwood University, the first time the Lions have hosted the Championship. Lindenwood claimed the 2025 OVC regular season crown by finishing 6-2-2 overall. The Lions and No. 2 seed HCU received byes until Wednesday's semifinals.
Fans can watch the entire OVC Men's Soccer Championship on ESPN+.
#4 SIUE 2, #5 Western Illinois 0
Box Score |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Photo Gallery | Postgame:
SIUE,
WIU
#3 Liberty 1, #6 Eastern Illinois 0
Box Score |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Photo Gallery | Postgame:
Liberty,
EIU
#4 SIUE 2, #5 WESTERN ILLINOIS 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Ethan Hackenberg scored the first two goals of his career to lead SIUE men's soccer into the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The fourth-seeded Cougars shut out No. 5 Western Illinois 2-0 Sunday at Hunter Stadium on the Lindenwood campus.
SIUE moves on to face top-seeded Lindenwood in the first semi-final match Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.
The Cougars improved to 6-10-2 overall with the win. Western Illinois finished its season at 5-11-4.
Hackenberg opened the scoring for the Cougars with his first career goal in the 11th minute when he got his head to a cross from Mathias Clausen. The goal came after a free kick was delivered to the outside by Wes Gibson.
WIU's best chance in the first half came in the 29th minute when the ball fell to Ty Duax straight away from goal, Duax unloaded a hard strike that was turned away by SIUE goalkeeper Noah Scheidweiler who made a leaping save, popping the ball in the air before he caught it again.
Hackenberg doubled SIUE's lead in the 57th minute when he earned a penalty kick when he was taken to ground after receiving a pass in the box. Hackenberg buried the kick low to right side for the 2-0 advantage.
Xavier Gagnon nearly put the Leathernecks on the board in the 79th minute when he headed on goal after a cross, but Scheidweiler again was there to make the save.
WIU finished with just the two shots on goal. Scheidweiler's two saves earned him his fifth shutout this season.
In all, SIUE outshot Western Illinois 11-9. The Cougars finished with four shots on goal. Hackenberg led the way with five total shots and two on goal.
#3 LIBERTY 1, #6 EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The No. 3 seed Liberty Flames used a strong defensive effort to shut out the No. 6 seed Eastern Illinois Panthers 1-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference Quarterfinals on Sunday at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium. With the win, the Flames advance to the OVC Semifinals on Wednesday.
Flames senior forward Sam Farner scored his fifth goal of the season off a corner kick during the 19th minute for the game’s only goal.
Liberty’s defensive pressure throughout the contest never allowed Eastern Illinois to set up an offensive attack. The Flames allowed the Panthers only one shot on goal out of their 10 shot attempts in the contest. In addition, Liberty was able to control possession, including holding the ball in the late stages of the match on its attacking end, as Eastern Illinois tried to find the equalizer.
Liberty moves to 9-4-6 on the season and advances to play the No. 2 seed Houston Christian Huskies in the OVC Semifinals on Wednesday evening at Hunter Stadium. Eastern Illinois ends its season at 4-9-4.