SUNDAY’S SCORES
@Liberty 2, UIW 1
Eastern Illinois 1, @Lindenwood 1
@SIUE 4, Southern Indiana 0
@Chicago State 3, HCU 2
LIBERTY 2, UIW 1
LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Liberty Flames topped the Incarnate Word Cardinals 2-1 in an OVC match and final home game of the regular season Sunday afternoon at Osborne Stadium.
Liberty got off to a fast start in the contest, not only holding possession but firing six shots over the first 22 minutes to take a 1-0 lead. Bryce Swinehart scored his fourth goal of the season, pouncing on a deflection at the left post and ripping a shot into the back of the net to give the Flames a lead.
Liberty added to its lead early in the second half, as Carlos Trott netted a goal off a throw into the 18-yard box for a 2-0 lead.
The Flames move to 4-3-1 in OVC play and 9-5-1 overall. The Cardinals drop to 3-2-2 in OVC action and 5-7-4 overall.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 1, LINDENWOOD 1
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood men's soccer (6-4-6, 3-1-4 OVC) earns a point on Sunday with a 1-1 draw against fellow Ohio Valley Conference member Eastern Illinois (3-8-4, 2-4-2 OVC). The Lions posted 15 total shots with four on goal.
The first half saw an aggressive Eastern Illinois team out-shoot the Lions seven to four. The Lions also allowed three corner kicks through the first 45 minutes of the match.
Despite EIU posting more shots, it was Lindenwood's offense who struck first on Sunday with a goal by Cameron Caldwell in the 30th minute of play. Jens Haukeland provided with sixth assist of the season to give LU the early 1-0 lead.
Lindenwood battled tough the rest of the first half, but Eastern Illinois' offense strung together a few passes to tie the match at 1-1 in the 40th minute. EIU's Jared Cornejo scored off of two assists by Kyle Ward and Julian Smith. The first half would end in a tie.
The Lions' offense came roaring out of halftime and looked aggressive. Lindenwood would eventually post 11 of their 15 shots in the second half. They would also post two more shots on goal in the second half.
In the 76th minute, Matty Wackerfuss had a shot in the net that was blocked due to a handball. Haukeland then took the penalty kick for the Lions and was saved by EIU's goalie Chad Smith. It was one of his four saves today against Lindenwood.
Enzo Gil for the Lions made three saves today in the 1-1 draw. Lindenwood was up a man in the final 15 minutes of action due to a red card on EIU, but the Panthers stood their ground forcing a tie against the Lions.
SIUE 4, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - With a 4-0 win over Southern Indiana Sunday, SIUE men's soccer claimed the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference regular season title and remained unbeaten on the year.
The Cougars improved to 12-0-3 overall and 7-0-1 in the OVC.
The championship comes in the inaugural year of men's soccer in the Ohio Valley Conference and marks the first OVC Championship of any kind for a men's team at SIUE.
The title is the first regular season conference title for men's soccer since the 2015 team won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season.
Following a scoreless first half, four different players found the back of the net in the second half for SIUE. Jacob Bilyeu opened the scoring in the 63rd minute. Stephan Moreira made it 2-0, with his second goal of the week, just 1:04 later.
Jacobo Sanfeliu scored his first as a Cougar in the 81st minute and Pavel Dashin netted the Cougars' fourth in the 83rd minute.
Nic Muench assisted on three of SIUE's goals. Bilyeu added an assist on Moreira's goal.
The Cougars outshot USI 21-6, including putting 13 shots on goal.
Southern Indiana (1-11-3, 0-5-3) put three shots on goal. Sam Gomez made three saves for his seventh shutout of the season.
Braden Matthews allowed two goals and made eight saves in 70 minutes for USI. Alec Meissner allowed two goals and made a save.
CHICAGO STATE 3, HCU 2
CHICAGO - The Chicago State men's soccer team hosted Houston Christian University Sunday night at Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep for the final home match of the season pulling out a 3-2 win with goals from Hilary Odhiambo, CalWayne Allen and Iann Topete who leads the team in goals with seven.
In the first half, the Cougars managed to dominate throughout as they maintained possession most of the half which resulted in several scoring chances. The first came in the form of a penalty kick awarded due to a handball and senior captain Allen easily converted to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute. Ten minutes later, the Cougars earned another as Odhiambo fired in a long shot from outside the box to make it 2-0.
Chicago State would go on to lead 3-0 after another successful counterattack as Iann Topete calmly finished to earn his team-high seventh goal on the year.
The Huskies would not go down quietly as they managed to earn one back after a header deflected off of Allen's foot found its way at the back of the net to make it 3-1 at the break.
To start the second half, the Huskies managed to press up the field more as they looked for a comeback. They broke through in the 56th minute m to trail by one, 3-2, and the Cougars held off the Huskies for the one-goal win.