• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – September 2 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Monday, September 1
Green Bay 1,
@Southern Indiana 0
Wednesday, September 3
Liberty at VMI, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Bradley
at Western Illinois, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Thursday, September 4
Lindenwood at Evansville, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
HCU at UC San Diego, 9:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, September 5
Eastern Illinois at Milwaukee, 5:00 p.m.
Our Lady of the Lake
at UIW, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, September 6
IU Indy
at Southern Indiana, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Green Bay
at Western Illinois, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, September 7
St. Thomas
at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
SIUE vs. #16/18 Saint Louis, 6:00 p.m. (St. Louis, Mo.) (ESPN+)
Oral Roberts
at HCU, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Evan Howard, F • 6-5, 185, Sr. • Newcastle, England • SIUE
Howard scored two goals during SIUE's road trip to Colorado last week. He scored his first goal as a Cougar on Thursday in a 2-1 victory at Air Force; that goal came in the 27th minute and started the scoring in the match. On Sunday at nationally ranked Denver, the Coastal Carolina transfer converted a penalty kick in the 22nd minute to tie the match. For the week, the senior logged 147 minutes on the pitch and is tied for second in the OVC in total goals scored.
Others Nominated: Ryan Okerayi, HCU; Matteo Landais, Lindenwood; Pablo Juan, Southern Indiana.
DEFENSIVE
Quinn Connolly, D • 5-10, Sr. • St. Louis, Mo. • Lindenwood
Connolly played all 180 minutes as Lindenwood recorded a pair of wins, allowing only one total goal, to move to 3-0 on the season. The senior scored the game-winning goal in the 81st minute as the Lions won 2-1. On Sunday he was part of a defensive unit that recorded a 3-0 shutout over Wright State.
Others Nominated: Cland Iwasaki, Eastern Illinois; Nico Kross, HCU
GOALKEEPER
Quinn Closson, GK • 5-11, Grad. • Fairfield, Conn. • Lindenwood
Closson picked up a pair of wins, allowing just one goal in 180 minutes, as Lindenwood moved to 3-0 on the season, the best start for the program since the 2013 season. He faced 12 shots and made four saves in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Milwaukee. Closson capped the week once again netting four saves, registering a clean sheet in a 3-0 win over Wright State. He shares the OVC lead in save percentage (.917), goals allowed average (0.33) and shutouts (2).
Others Nominated: Franco Barba, Eastern Illinois; Alex Aitken, HCU.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Matteo Landais (MF, Grad.), Lindenwood. Had a goal and two assists in a pair of victories last week. Scored a goal and had an assist in 3-0 victory over Wright State. In 2-1 win over Lindenwood, he assisted on the game-winning goal in the 81st minute.
•
Ryan Okerayi (F, Jr.), HCU. Put home the game-winner in the 80th minute of Sunday's 1-0 victory over Gonzaga.
•
Pablo Juan (MF, Jr.), Southern Indiana. Juan scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Rose-Hulman.
•
Alex Aitken (GK, Sr.), HCU. Made seven saves in two games, facing 22 total shots. Picked up a clean sheet on Sunday in 1-0 victory over Gonzaga.
•
Nico Kross (D, Jr.), HCU. Played 180 minutes in two matches last week, helping his team give up only one goal as they went 1-1.
•
Franco Barba (GK, Jr.), Eastern Illinois. Made six saves in 90 minutes in 1-0 loss at Purdue Fort Wayne.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: Lindenwood won a pair of games last week to move to 3-0-0 on the season, making them the only OVC team without a blemish on their record this season; this is the first time since the 2013 season that the Lindenwood program has started a year 3-0 ... Liberty (2-0-1) is also undefeated, but did suffer a tie last week at Radford ... HCU opened the season with two wins in three during a chaotic homestand that saw the season opener canceled and the finale moved off campus, both due to weather ... HCU goalkeeper Alex Aitken continues to climb the career leaderboards; the all-time leader in saves now needs two wins to become just the third goalkeeper in school history with 20 career victories ... In national rankings, Lindenwood is second in points/game (12.33), third scoring offense (4.33 points/game) and goal differential (+11), fourth in assists/game (4.33), Liberty is second in scoring offense (4.33/game), third in goal differential (+11), sixth in points/game (11.67), 10th in assists (3.0/game) and Eastern Illinois is second in saves (8.67/game), while Southern Indiana is third (7.50/game) ... Individually, Lindenwood's Matteo Landais is fourth in assists (1.33/game) while HCU's Joby Reid is seventh (1.0/game), Liberty's Lucas Kelly is 11th in goals (1.0/game) and EIU's Franco Barba is second in saves (8.67/game), while WIU's Micah Ramirez is seventh (6.25/game).
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.