THURSDAY’S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 2, @Southern Indiana 0
Lindenwood 2, @Liberty 1
@HCU 3, UIW 1
SIUE 2, @Chicago State 1
EASTERN ILLINOIS 2, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Eastern Illinois men's soccer team visited Southern Indiana in a game where getting the three points was a must for both teams. With the OVC tournament only a couple of weeks away, the Panthers and the Screaming Eagles had no choice but to win to stay in the fight for a spot in the tournament.
With that in mind, both teams started the game looking to strike first, and the Panthers did not take long to do so. In the 12th minute, Julian Smith had time to bring down a ball flicked into the penalty kick spot by Felipe Kerr Lourenco, the senior midfielder then cut off one defender before scoring EIU's first goal with a low left shot. The Panthers were not satisfied with the 1-0 lead and kept most of its action on the attacking third of the field for the remainder of the initial half. In the 24th minute, Sam Eccles dribbled past a couple of defenders before taking the shot from the top of the box to double EIU's lead at halftime, 2-0.
In the second half the game became more balanced, as USI tried to increase its offensive action. However, the Panthers defense kept its organization to neutralize any attempt coming from the Screaming Eagles. Goalkeeper Chad Smith ended the match with two saves to secure his second straight shutout, and third overall. It was also the third clean sheet of the season for EIU.
The Panthers outshot Southern Indiana 9-2 on shots on target.
It was Smith's first goal of the season while Eccles leads the team with four. EIU improved to a 2-4-1 conference record, and 3-8-3 overall.
LINDENWOOD 2, LIBERTY 1
LYNCHBURG, Va. - Lindenwood men's soccer (6-4-5, 3-1-3 OVC) captured an impressive 2-1 victory over Liberty (8-5-1, 3-3-1 OVC) in Lynchburg, Va. Thursday evening. The Lions rallied around Matteo Boasso's two goals in the win.
Lindenwood's offense struck first in the opening half as Boasso picked up his first goal in the 44th minute of play, narrowly beating out the close of the first half. Boasso was assisted by Parker Smith who had a nice touch cross pass across the box to Boasso.
The Lions blanked the Flames during the first 45 minutes of play with goalie Enzo Gil posting four saves. Both teams had shot six times in the first half with Liberty having four shots on goal. Boasso was one of five Lions to post a shot in the half.
Coming ouf of halftime, the Lions were eager to score again. Boasso struck past the Flames' defense with his second goal of the night during the 63rd minute of action. This one was assisted by Ethan Blake who has been an offensive factor as of late.
Liberty's intensity would not go unnoticed as they had 10 shots in the second half including a goal by Carlos Trott in the 78th minute. Lindenwood's defense kept the ball out of the box for the majority of the second, but Gil stepped up with four minutes remaining securing a diving save on the right side of the box to keep the equalizer off the board.
The Lions defense, led by Noe Bijou and Cameron Caldwell, helped the Lions move the ball towards the end of the match to secure their sixth win of the season. With that victory, they also moved into second place with 12 points in OVC play.
HCU 3, UIW 1
HOUSTON - Houston Christian University played one of it's most complete games of the season to clip Incarnate Word 3-1 at Sorrels Field on Thursday night. The Huskies jumped on the board just over four minutes in, then used two goals after intermission to break open another feisty affair between the in-state rivals and pick up a valuable three points in the home stretch of the OVC regular season.
HCU wasted very little time getting on the scoreboard. Ricardo Garcia hit Curtis Dunn who then slipped a nifty pass to Ethan Giwa-McNeil in the middle of the box where the junior from London let fly a left-footed smash to the bottom left corner to put the hosts up 1-0 just a second over the four-minute mark.
The visitors from the Alamo City would get things level in the 25th minute, as Paco Segura and Dylan Navarijo contributed to a Mile Merritt tally just past the outstretched arms of HCU keeper Alex Aitken. Merritt beat Aitken to the ball just outside the box and slid a shot bottom drawer of the right side to make it one apiece.
Both teams would come out firing after intermission, but it would be the Huskies who would see their efforts rewarded, as in the 62nd minute D'Alessandro Herrera would put the Huskies on top for keeps.
Ryan Okerayi led a left-side counter-attack by hitting Jireh Oyebamiji further up field, and he would slide a cross to Herrera streaking down the middle. The team's leading goal-scorer would then stop on a dime and snap off a shot into the bottom right corner, giving the Huskies a 2-1 advantage.
The goal from Herrera picked up the pace for the Huskies, and just six minutes later, it was Okerayi's turn to find the back of the net. This time, it was Sam Zeeman hitting Curtis Dunn for a quick hitter to Okerayi, who then took it through the final third for a scintillating finish into the bottom left corner that electrified the home crowd and gave the Huskies a two-goal cushion.
HCU and UIW would each take 15 shots, with the Huskies holding a 5-4 SOG advantage. The Huskies earned eight corners to just three for the Cards.
Herrera took three shots, two on goal and garnered his sixth goal of the season, which pushed him to 30 career points. Okerayi pushed home his fifth goal of his rookie campaign, and added his second assist of the season, while Giwa-McNeil netted his second goal of the year.
Garcia picked up his team-best fourth assist of the year, while Dunn added his first two. Zeeman added his third assists while Oyebamiji picked up his second.
Alex Aitken was solid between the posts directing traffic and making three saves.
Merritt's goal for UIW was his third of the campaign. Hugo Constant made three saves and allowed the two goals for the Cardinals, who fall to 5-6-4 overall and 3-2-2 in the OVC.
HCU improves it's overall mark to 4-6-5 and is now 2-2-3 in the league. The win by the Huskies, coupled with Lindenwood's 2-1 victory at Liberty, puts four teams within three points of each other for spots two through five in the conference standings, with three fixtures left on the schedule.
UIW falls from second to third place, and will head to Liberty on Sunday, while the Huskies travel to the Windy City to face Chicago State, which gave league-leading SIUE all it could handle before falling 2-1 at home.
SIUE 2, CHICAGO STATE 1
CHICAGO - Stephan Moreira bent in a free kick with just over six minutes to play, breaking a 1-1 tie and lifting SIUE men's soccer to a 2-1 road win at Chicago State.
SIUE has won four in a row and remained unbeaten on the year, improving to 11-0-3 overall and 6-0-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The 11 wins are the most for the Cougars since 2015.
Chicago State fell to 3-9-3 and 1-4-2.
Moreira's kick came from 30 yards out off the left side of the penalty area and curled off the post at the upper corner. The goal came a little more than four minutes after Ian Topete tied the game for Chicago State in the 80th minute. After a ball came through the box and an initial shot missed at the back post, Topete slid home at the opposite post.
Seth Korenek drew the foul on a run up the left side.
Much of the game was played through a steady rain on slick turf.
Pavel Dashin scored his fourth goal of the year to put SIUE ahead in the 37th minute. Dashin tapped in after SIUE made two attempts following a free kick. Will Harris had attempt at goal and Alsadiq Hasan took the initial free kick, and both picked up assists on the play.
Chicago State appeared to tie the game after on a free kick just before halftime. Jayie Sheppard took the free kick through the box, which pinballed around before finding the back of the net. The goal was disallowed on a handball by Chicago State.
SIUE outshot Chicago State 10-6. Sam Gomez made three saves for SIUE. Lucas Fontana made four saves for Chicago State.