• Championship Central | Bracket (PDF)
The inaugural Ohio Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship continued with a pair of semifinal matches on Wednesday.
No. 1 SIUE and No. 2 UIW won to advance to Saturday's Championship Match.
The Championship was predetermined before the year to be held on the campus of SIUE. SIUE would go on to claim the regular season championship with a 9-0-1 league mark. The Cougars and No. 2 seed UIW received byes until Wednesday's semifinals.
Fans can watch the entire 2023 OVC Men's Soccer Championship on ESPN+.
#2 UIW 1, #6 Eastern Illinois 0
Box Score |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Photo Gallery
@#1 SIUE 2, #4 Lindenwood 0
Box Score |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Photo Gallery
#2 UIW 1, #6 EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Sello Diphoko came off the bench and scored in the 41st minute to lift UIW to a berth in the OVC Men's Soccer Championship Game on Saturday.
Diphoko scored his eighth goal of the season off an assist from William Ansah. That is all UIW would need, as its defense limited Eastern Illinois to 11 shots. UIW finished with 22 shots.
EIU goalkeeper Chad Smith made 11 saves for the Panthers.
#1 SIUE 2, #4 LINDENWOOD 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Two goals from Ignacio Abeal Pou assured SIUE men's soccer the chance play for an Ohio Valley Conference championship as the top-seeded Cougars ousted No. 4 seed Lindenwood 2-0 Wednesday at Korte Stadium.
The Cougars improved to 15-0-3 and will face Incarnate Word in a 6:00 p.m. game Saturday for the inaugural OVC Championship.
The first strike came in the 70th minute to snap a scoreless tie. Sam Layton delivered a 20-yard pass over midfield to Abeal who spun around a defender before making a run in on goal from the left side before blasting home from 15 yards away.
Nacho's second goal came less than three minutes from the final whistle. Nic Muench took the ball to the corner flag, before back-heeling a pass to Andres Delascio turned in the box and sent a short cross to the Nacho, who scored his second of the night from just outside of the penalty spot.
SIUE outshot Lindenwood 9-5. Sam Gomez made a single save to secure his ninth career shutout.
Saturday's meeting will be the second of the year between SIUE and UIW. The Cougars picked up a 3-0 win Oct. 12 also at Korte Stadium.