• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – September 23 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Monday, September 22
@#1 Wake Forest 7,
Liberty 0
Tuesday, September 23
Southern Indiana at Purdue Fort Wayne, 1:00 p.m.
Friday, September 26
*HCU at UIW, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, September 27
*Southern Indiana at Liberty, 11:00 a.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m.
*Lindenwood at SIUE, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Casey Welage, F • 5-11, Sr. • Liberty Township, Ohio • Eastern Illinois
Welage had a goal and an assist as Eastern Illinois won its first match of the season, 3-2 at Northern Illinois. He scored the first goal of the match in the 22nd minute and just over two minutes later scored to put the Panthers ahead 2-0. The team would go on to win its first match under first-year head coach Ruy Vaz. For the week the senior had six shots, three of which were on goal, in 125 minutes of action.
Others Nominated: Ryan Okerayi, HCU; Liam Gainey, Western Illinois.
DEFENSIVE
Hans Leza, D • 6-0, 160, Jr. • Houston, Texas • HCU
Leza played all 90 minutes in HCU's 1-0 shutout of in-state foe, and future OVC opponent, UTRGV. It marked the fourth shutout of the season for the Huskies who won their fifth game of the season. Leza had several run-stopping clearances in the second half, with the biggest moment coming with 17 minutes to go, as he held ground on a strong run down the left side, pushed the ball to byline and forced rushed a shot to keep the match tied.
Others Nominated: Yuki Nakamura, Eastern Illinois.
CO-GOALKEEPER
Alex Aitken, GK • 6-0, 180, Sr. • Great Barford, England • HCU
Aitken recorded his fourth clean sheet of the season in a 1-0 win over rival and future OVC foe UTRGV. The senior made four saves, the final a victory-preserving bat away on a free kick from the edge with just under two minutes to play. Aitken ranks 16th nationally in shutouts (4), 20th in save percentage (86.7%) and 25th in goals against average (0.57).
CO-GOALKEEPER
Quinn Closson, GK • 5-11, Grad. • Fairfield, Conn. • Lindenwood
Closson had his second consecutive six save shutout last week in a 0-0 road draw with UTRGV. It marked the fifth shutout of the season for Closson, who enters the week ranked fifth nationally in that category. With the decision the Lindenwood team finished the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 7-0-1 record. Closson ranks sixth nationally in save percentage (93.35) and 11th in goals against average (0.30).
Others Nominated: Franco Barba, Eastern Illinois; Alejandro De La Torre, UIW
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Alejandro De La Torre (GK, Grad.). Last week's Goalkeeper of the Week made three saves in 90 minutes in a 0-0 draw at ACC foe Pitt. It marked his fourth shutout of the season.
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Ryan Okerayi (F, Jr.), HCU. Okerayi scored the game-winning goal in HCU's 1-0 victory over in-state rival UTRGV. Coming off a late run in the 88th minute, Okerayi was taken down in the box and converted the PK for the victory. He shares the OVC lead with five goals this season.
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Franco Barba (GK, Jr.), Eastern Illinois. Barba made 10 saves in two matches, as EIU topped Northern Illinois before falling 1-0 at Central Arkansas. The junior currently ranks first nationally in saves per game (7.17) and total saves (43).
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Liam Gainey (F, Sr.), Western Illinois. Gainey scored the lone goal of the week for Western Illinois, coming in the 20th minute of a match with IU Indy. The senior has scored in three of the six matches he has played in this season.
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Yuki Nakamura (MF, Sr.), Eastern Illinois. Nakamura was one of two Eastern Illinois players to log all 180 minutes in two matches last week. He helped the team to a 3-2 win over Northern Illinois to open the week.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: There is one more non-conference game on Tuesday before the start of Conference play this weekend (one game on Friday, three on Saturday) ... Lindenwood saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end with a tie at future OVC foe UTRGV last week; the Lions are 7-0-1 on the season, which is tied for the most wins nationally entering the week ... Liberty suffered its first losses of the year, both coming against nationally-ranked teams (No. 21 UNCG and No. 1 Wake Forest) ... After topping No. 18 SMU the previous Monday, UIW traveled to Pitt and tied the Panthers 0-0, a team who had been nationally-ranked the previous week ... HCU topped UTRGV last week in the 26th all-time meetings between the two programs; Ryan Okerayi scored the game-winning goal against the Vaqueros for the second-straight season ... HCU's Alex Aitken has moved above 250 saves for his career, and the victory over UTRGV was the 21st of his career, tying him with Christopher Dodd at the top of the all-time victories chart; he is just the third keeper in school history with 20 or more victories ... EIU picked up first win of the Ruy Vaz era with a 3-2 victory over Northern Illinois last Tuesday ... Nationally, Lindenwood ranks third in goal differential (+19), fifth in assists/game (3.38) and points/game (9.13), sixth in scoring offense (2.88 goals/game), 11th in save percentage (88.2%) and 14th in shutout percentage (62.5%), Liberty is ninth in goal differential (+13) and scoring (2.71 goals/game) and 10th in points/game (7.71), UIW is ninth in save percentage (89.1%), HCU is 14th in save percentage (86.7%) and Eastern Illinois is first in saves/game (7.33) ... Individually, Lindenwood's Matteo Landais is sixth in assists/game (0.75) while teammate Quinn Closson is sixth in save percentage (93.3%) and shutouts (5) and 11th in goals against average (0.30), HCU's Ryan Okerayi is 10th in shot accuracy (64.7%) and 13th in goals/game (0.83) and EIU's Franco Barba is first in saves/game (7.17).
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.