• 2023 All-OVC Men's Soccer Teams and Award Winners (PDF) | Photo Gallery
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - The Ohio Valley Conference announced the 2023 OVC men's soccer award winners and All-Conference teams on Tuesday night at a banquet the night before the OVC Championship semifinals get underway in Edwardsville, Illinois. This year is the inaugural season of men's soccer in the Conference.
In a vote of league head coaches and communications directors, SIUE's
Cale Wassermann was named OVC Coach of the Year while three of his players earned individual awards. That included
Stephan Moreira, Forward of the Year,
Sam Gomez, Goalkeeper of the Year, and
Will Harris, Defender of the Year. Additionally, HCU's
D'Alessandro Herrera was voted Midfielder of the Year and forward
Ryan Okerayi was tabbed OVC Freshman of the Year.
The league also announced the All-OVC first and second teams as well as an All-Newcomer Team. Regular season champion SIUE had the most combined first and second team picks (7) while Lindenwood had five and Liberty tallied four.
Wassermann guided the Cougars to a 14-0-3 overall record and 9-0-1 OVC mark during the regular season. The 14 victories are the most nationally and the team enters the postseason as one of only two undefeated squads. The program led Division I in winning percentage (.912), is fourth in total goals (41) and second in goal differential (+31). Following the conclusion of the regular season SIUE vaulted back into the national rankings and is currently ranked No. 25 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll.
In 17 games Moreira tallied five goals and six assists on 17 total shots on goals. The junior ranked 11th nationally in game-winning goals (4) on the year. In Conference play he had three goals and five assists in 10 contests. His five assists in league-play was second-most in the OVC.
Gomez was named OVC Goalkeeper of the Week a league-high six times this season. Nationally the graduate student ranks third in shutouts (8), sixth in save percentage (85.7%), seventh in G.A.A. (0.59) and 31st in total saves (60). In league play he had six shutouts in 10 matches and allowed only five goals in nearly 900 minutes. In October he landed at No. 54 on TopDrawerSoccer.com's National College Soccer Player Midseason Rankings, coming in as the third-highest goalkeeper on the list.
Harris was the top defender for the regular season champion Cougars, a squad that was unbeaten on the year and only allowed five goals in 10 Conference matches. Overall he added a goal and three assists, all of which came during OVC action. In league action he played 849 of a possible 900 minutes.
Herrera played over 1300 minutes in 17 matches in the midfield, scoring six goals and adding seven assists. His 19 points led all OVC players and ranked 62nd nationally. He also ranked 28th nationally in total assists (7), 35th in game-winning goals (3) and 58th nationally in assists/game (0.41). Six of his assists came during his nine league matches.
Okerayi saw action in 17 matches during the season, scoring seven total goals and adding two assists. Four of his goals and both of his assists came during OVC play. Okerayi ranked fourth in both points/game (1.11) and goals (4) during league play.
2023 All-OVC Men’s Soccer Teams and Award Winners
OVC Forward of the Year: Stephan Moreira, SIUE
OVC Midfielder of the Year: D'Alessandro Herrera, HCU
OVC Defender of the Year: Will Harris, SIUE
OVC Goalkeeper of the Year: Sam Gomez, SIUE
OVC Freshman of the Year: Ryan Okerayi, HCU
OVC Coach of the Year: Cale Wassermann, SIUE
ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
GK - Sam Gomez, SIUE
D - Will Harris, SIUE
D - Calwayne Allen, Chicago State
D - Bryce Swinehart, Liberty
MF - D'Alessandro Herrera, HCU
MF - Iann Topete, Chicago State
MF - Gabe Findley, Liberty
F - Stephan Moreira, SIUE
F - Ryan Okerayi, HCU
F - Sello Diphoko, UIW
F - Ethan Blake, Lindenwood
ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
GK - Hugo Constant, UIW
GK - Enzo Gil, Lindenwood
D - Wes Gibson, SIUE
D - Noe Bijou, Lindenwood
D - Cooper Wilson, Lindenwood
MF - Sam Layton, SIUE
MF - Luke Eberle, Liberty
MF - Alsadiq Hasan, SIUE
MF - Miles Merritt, UIW
MF - Matteo Boasso, Lindenwood
F - Pavel Dashin, SIUE
F - Michael Huss, Liberty
F - Sam Eccles, Eastern Illinois
ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
F - Iann Topete, Chicago State
D - Donat Juhasz, Chicago State
F - Ryan Okerayi, HCU
F - Leo Conneh, Liberty
D - Noe Bijou, Lindenwood
F - Ethan Blake, Lindenwood
MF - Matteo Boasso, Lindenwood
F - Stephan Moreira, SIUE
F - Pavel Dashin, SIUE
MF - Miles Merritt, UIW
F - Peleg Armendariz, UIW