• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – August 26 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, August 26
Milwaukee
at Lindenwood, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Rose-Hulman
at Southern Indiana, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Thursday, August 28
Liberty at Radford, 5:00 p.m.
SIUE at Air Force, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Western Illinois at Northern Illinois, 7:00 p.m.
Gonzaga
at UIW, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
UMass Lowell
at HCU, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, August 29
Eastern Illinois at Purdue Fort Wayne, 1:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 31
UMass Lowell
at UIW, 11:00 a.m. (ESPN+)
Northern Kentucky
at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wright State
at Lindenwood, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
SIUE at #6 Denver, 4:00 p.m. (Summit League Network)
Gonzaga
at HCU, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
CO-OFFENSIVE
Lucas Kelly, D • 6-0, 170, Jr. • Wake Forest, N.C. • Liberty
Kelly scored three goals as Liberty went 2-0 in the opening weekend of the 2025 season. On Thursday against Regent University, he opened the scoring with what proved to be the game-winning goal, just 3:09 into the match. It was the only goal for the Flames in the first half, before the team exploded for eight second half goals to win 9-0. In Sunday's 3-1 win over USC Upstate, the junior scored in the eighth and 19th minute to give his team a margin it would not relinquish. It marked his first career two-goal game; he had only one career goal in his first two collegiate seasons.
CO-OFFENSIVE
Ethan Blake, F • 5-9, Sr. • Jefferson City, Mo. • Lindenwood
Blake tallied two goals and an assist as Lindenwood opened the 2025 season with a 7-0 road victory over Chicago State. Blake scored what proved to be the game-winning goal 12:56 into the contest. He added his second goal in the 53rd minute and assisted on a goal nine minutes later before exiting the game.
Others Nominated: Ron Pressler, HCU; Benjamin Graham, Western Illinois.
CO-DEFENSIVE
Nico Kross, D • 6-2, 190, Jr. • Heidenheim, Germany • HCU
Kross played all 90 minutes as HCU shut out Pacific to open the 2025 season. The transfer from UNCG had several well played clearances on runs to the box, and his long pass down the left side found Ron Pressler in stride for a goal in the 81st minute, giving him his first assist of the season.
CO-DEFENSIVE
Carlos Trott, D • 6-3, 185, Sr. • Campo Bom, Brazil • Liberty
Trott anchored the Flames’ defensive unit from his center back position, helping his squad to a 2-0 start to the season. The senior did not allow a shot from the center during Liberty’s two games. After the Flames shut out Regent 9-0 in the season opener, Liberty held USC Upstate scoreless for the first 81 minutes of their second game, as they would go on to win 3-1.
Others Nominated: Leandro Haesler, Lindenwood.
GOALKEEPER
Alex Aitken, GK • 6-0, 180, Sr. • Great Barford, England • HCU
Aitken made four saves in 90 minutes of action as HCU started the season with a 4-0 shutout of Pacific on Sunday. It marked the 13th shutout of his career and Aitken now has five shutouts in his last seven outings dating back to last season.
Others Nominated: Quinn Closson, Lindenwood; Micah Ramirez, Western Illinois.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
•
Benjamin Graham (MF/D, So.), Western Illinois. Graham scored the game-winning goal in the 21st minute of WIU's 1-0 win at Butler to open the season.
•
Micah Ramirez (GK, Sr.), Western Illinois. Ramirez made five saves in recording a 1-0 shutout at Butler to start the season. He followed that with eight saves in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to
Quincy, allowing only a goal in the final 10 seconds of the match.
•
Quinn Closson (GK, Grad.), Lindenwood. Closson made three saves in 90 minutes as he picked up a shutout in a 7-0 win at Chicago State to open the season.
•
Leandro Haesler (D, Sr.), Lindenwood. The senior played 84 minutes against Chicago State, helping the Lions notch a shutout victory in the season opener.
•
Ron Pressler (F, So.), HCU. Pressler had a goal and assist in the Huskies season-opening 4-0 win over Pacific. The sophomore assisted on a goal in the 75th minute and followed with his own goal at 80:31 to cap the scoring.
•
Diego Robles (F, So.), UIW. Scored the game-winning goal in the 22nd minute in Thursday's season-opening 1-0 victory over Pacific.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: OVC teams were 6-6 in the first week of regular season men's soccer action ... Liberty (2-0), HCU (1-0) and Lindenwood (1-0) are unbeaten after the first week ... Liberty established a new OVC single match record with nine goals against Regent on Thursday, August 31 ... Lindenwood blanked Chicago State 7-0 to begin the season 1-0 for the first time since 2017; the Lions had 22 shots, the most in a season-opener since 2016 (17 vs. UMSL) ... After having its Thursday opener canceled due to weather, HCU rebounded with a 4-0 win over Pacific on Sunday; the four goals were the most in a season-opener for the team since 2014 (vs. Oral Roberts) ... Four different players scored goals for HCU, including Ryan Okerayi and D’Alessandro Herrera, who each registered the 13th goals of their career.
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.