• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – August 25 (PDF)

This Week’s Schedule
 
Monday, August 24
@IU Indy 1, Lindenwood 0
Southern Indiana 2, @Northern Kentucky 2

Wednesday, August 26
Blackburn College at Lindenwood, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Thursday, August 27
Western Illinois at DePaul, 3:00 p.m. (Marquee Sports Network)
Wright State at Eastern Illinois, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
SIUE at Michigan State, 6:30 p.m. (B1G+)
UC San Diego at HCU, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Friday, August 28
UIW at Tulsa, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Sunday, August 30
SIUE at Michigan, 12:00 p.m. (B1G+)
St. Thomas at Eastern Illinois, 12:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Lindenwood at Wright State, 12:00 p.m.
Illinois-Springfield at Western Illinois, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Monday, August 31
HCU at #15 SMU, 7:00 p.m. (ACCNX)
 

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OVC Players of the Week
 
OFFENSIVE
Luca Bartoni, F • 6-1, 185, 5th Year • St. Louis, Mo. • Lindenwood
Bartoni, the reigning OVC Forward of the Year and Tournament MVP, opened the 2026 campaign by scoring a pair of goals in a 3-0 victory over Chicago State on Thursday. The fifth year's goals came in the 63rd and 89th minute as the Lions extended its undefeated streak at home to 16 matches (dating back to the 2024 season). Three of his four shots in the match were on goal.
 
Others Nominated: Sergej Misic, Eastern Illinois; Ryan Okerayi, HCU; Sammy Jadid, UTRGV; George Frost, Western Illinois.
 
DEFENSIVE
Zach Naessens, D • 6-3, So. • Indianapolis, Ind. • Southern Indiana
Naessens was part of a defensive unit that produced the first season-opening result for Southern Indiana since the 2018 season, as the Screaming Eagles played Milwaukee to a scoreless draw last Thursday. He anchored a defense by playing all 90 minutes as USI recorded its first shutout against a Division I opponent since the 2024 season.
 
Others Nominated: Nico Kross, HCU, Luke Neely, Lindenwood; Charles Chimezie, UIW.
 
GOALKEEPER
Jacob English, GK • 6-2, So. • Louisville, Ky. • Southeast Indiana
English made six saves in a scoreless draw at Milwaukee to open the 2026 season. It marked the first result in a season-opener for the Screaming Eagles since the 2018 season, and the first shutout against a Division I opponent since 2024. Four of his saves came in the first half, with two coming in the second 45 minutes. It marked the most saves in his career without allowing a goal.
 
Others Nominated: Harvey Heeps, HCU; Quinn Closson, Lindenwood.
 
 
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
 
• Sergej Misic (F, Sr.), Eastern Illinois. In his Division I debut, scored goals in the 13th and 28th minutes in EIU's season opener at Omaha.
 
• George Frost (F/MF, Jr.), Western Illinois. Scored twice on three total shots as Western Illinois topped Quincy 3-2 to open the season.
 
• Sammy Jadid (F, So.), UTRGV. Scored the game-tying goal in the 88th minute in Sunday's draw with Stetson, while adding an assist in Thursday's win at West Florida.
 
• Ryan Okerayi (F, Sr.), HCU. Scored on a penalty kick in the 75th minute to help HCU to a win over UMass Lowell. It marked his eighth career game-winning goal.
 
• Luke Neely (D, Sr.), Lindenwood. Played 90 minutes, anchoring a defense that produced a shutout against Chicago State. He also assisted on what proved to be the game-winning goal.
 
• Nico Kross (D, Sr.), HCU. Played all 180 minutes in two matches last week, helping the Huskies to a 1-1 week.
 
• Quinn Closson (GK, 5th), Lindenwood. Produced a shutout against Chicago State in the season opener, making one save.
 
 
Notes From Around the League
 
Highlights From Around the League: The fourth season of OVC men's soccer got underway last week with 13 total matches (including two on Monday) ... Defending champion Lindenwood blanked Chicago State in its opener, improving to 13-0-3 in its last 16 home matches dating back to the 2024 season ... The Lions won its season-opener for the second-straight season, the first time the program has accomplished that since 2016-17 ... Western Illinois topped Quincy in its opener, the first game under head coach Kooten Johnson ... UTRGV, in its first season as a men's soccer member of the OVC, was 1-0-1, marking its first undefeated opening week since the 2022 season; the team matched its win total from last season (1-7-2) ... Southern Indiana produced its first result in a season opener since the 2018 season, playing to a scoreless draw at Milwaukee in the debut under head coach Mads Kaiser; it was the first shutout for USI against a Division I team since the 2024 season ... USI had another draw on Monday at Northern Kentucky, marking the first time the team had started the season with two results since 2017 ... Ryan Okerayi scored on a penalty kick in the 75th minute to help HCU beat UMass Lowell on Sunday, avenging a 1-0 loss from a season ago; it was the 22nd career goal for Okerayi ... The win was the 50th as head coach at HCU for Ryan Pratt.
 
Okerayi Named to Players to Watch List: The United Soccer Coaches named its selection of forwards on its NCAA Division I Men's Players to Watch list for the 2026 season, with HCU's Ryan Okerayi being named as one of 28 across the country. Okerayi is the first player in HCU program history to be recognized as part of a list compiled and released by the All-America Committees. The national watch-list acknowledgement is a lead up for the prestigious Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy, which is presented to the National Player of the Year at the end of the regular season.
 
Fourth Season of OVC Men's Soccer: This year marks the fourth 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 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV are affiliate members, giving the OVC eight men’s soccer programs. This marks the first season for UTRGV in the OVC; 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.
 
2026 OVC Tournament: The 2026 OVC Men's Soccer Championship will be held on the campus of Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri for the second-straight season. 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.
 
Lindenwood Picked as 2026 OVC Preseason Favorite: Defending OVC champion Lindenwood has been predicted the preseason favorite ahead of the 2026 OVC men's soccer season. The Lions picked up 11 of 16 first-place votes and 94 points in the poll of league head coaches and communications directors. HCU (who has been in the OVC Tournament Final each of the past two years) and SIUE (who won the regular season and tournament titles in 2023 and 2024) finished tied for second-place with 80 total points. The Huskies picked up two first-place votes while SIUE received three.  The poll was founded out by Eastern Illinois (54), UTRGV (46), UIW (42), Western Illinois (36) and Southern Indiana (18).
 
ESPN+: The OVC has a media rights deal with ESPN to air games on ESPN+, which is a service that features over 30,000 live events across college, international soccer, golf, tennis, combat, and the full ESPN Originals library. Fans have access to ESPN+ content via any ESPN subscription or Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Bundle subscription, as well as certain TV provider offerings. Please check with your TV provider to see if your TV package includes ESPN (Select or Unlimited offerings).