THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 2, Lindenwood 1
@Liberty 7, Chicago State 1
HCU 3, @UIW 3
SIUE 6, @Southern Indiana 0
EASTERN ILLINOIS 2, LINDENWOOD 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois men's soccer opened conference play with two goals in the last ten minutes to come from behind and beat Lindenwood, 2-1. EIU has improved to a 2-4-2 overall record, and 1-0 in the OVC. Lindenwood is now 3-4-2 in the season and 0-1 in the conference.
The match started with Lindenwood trying to take control of the game, as the Lions kept a slightly higher possession over the Panthers. EIU posted its defense well, and did not allow Lindenwood to create any good scoring opportunities. The Lion's goal came from a free kick just outside of the eighteen yard box. Ethan Blake found the top left corner to put Lindenwood up 1-0 in the 25th minute of the match.
The game kept extremely balanced in the second half. Both teams were battling hard for the ball, and as a result, two yellow cards were shown for each team. The game started to change for EIU with ten minutes left on the clock. In the 81st minute, Felipe Kerr Lourence took a shot from outside the eighteen yard box, the Lion's goalkeeper offered a rebound, and freshman forward Ashur Eshw was in the right spot to tap it in and score EIU's equalizing goal. The goal served as the first of Eshw's college career.
The Panthers weren't done, as in the 87th minute, Casey Welage found a cross into the box to Sam Eccles. The senior forward finds the back of the net with a one time right foot finish to give EIU the winning goal.
Goalkeeper Whelan Joseph ended the match with one save in net for the Panthers.
LIBERTY 7, CHICAGO STATE 1
LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Liberty Flames opened conference play in grand fashion, rolling past the Chicago State Cougars 7-1 at Osborne Stadium on the first-ever night of men's soccer competition in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Thursday.
Making their conference debut a grand one, the Flames, who entered the evening averaging 2.29 goals per game, tallied a season-high seven goals in the contest, controlling play throughout the contest.
On the night of firsts, four of Liberty's six goal scorers in the contest netted his first goal of the season in the match. Freshman forward Leo Conneh scored his first two goals of the season, while Sam Farner, Gora Gora and Elijah John each netted their first goal of 2023 in the contest.
In addition, Conneh, the OVC assists leader, had two assists in the match to finish the night with a Liberty-high single season game-high six points.
Gabe Findley and Bryce Swinehart also each scored a goal in the victory.
Liberty moves to 1-0 in OVC action and 6-2 overall. Chicago State drops to 0-1 in the OVC and 2-6-1 overall.
UIW 3, HCU 3
SAN ANTONIO - Hans Leza's goal with just over 10 minutes to play earned HCU a 3-3 draw with rival Incarnate Word at Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium Thursday evening on the inaugural opening night of Ohio Valley Conference play.
It took just over nine minutes of game time for the first shot to occur, and the first shot on goal wasn't recorded until the 20:08 mark off the foot of HCU's Jireh Oyebamiji.
The two teams would then pick up the pace, and eight minutes later, the Huskies would go out in front on a goal from D'Alessandro Herrera. Leza saw a run down the line by Ethan Giwa-McNeil and played him quickly. Giwa-McNeil cut back to his right foot and served a ball to the back post for the one-time finish by Herrera.
McNeil would put one over the net at the 34-minute mark, and after the goal kick, the Huskies came right back on the attack with pace. HCU moved the ball from side to side and then played it into the middle where Curtis Dunn drove straightaway, playing a one-two with Herrera before calmly slotting the ball home for a 2-0 lead.
That lead would evaporate however, as the Cardinals clamored their way back into the match with two goals in the final five minutes of the half. Erick Rios hit Eduardo Perez at the 41:12 make to pull UIW within one, 2-1.
With just 25 seconds remaining until the break, Brady Drozdowski shot one into the bottom right corner on an assist from Miles Merritt, putting the game right back where it started, knotted at two apiece at the intermission.
In the 57th minute, the Huskies earned a penalty kick after Drozdowski was sent off, dropping UIW to ten men. Herrera's PK was saved however by OVC Goalkeeper of the Week Hugo Constant, keeping the game even.
It didn't take long for UIW to capitalize on the PK save momentum, as in the next minute after another small flurry of cards, the Cardinals pushed in front on a goal by Peleg Armendraiz.
HCU would not be deterred, and at the 79:19 mark, the Huskies scored the equalizer in similar fashion to their second goal. This time it was Leza playing the give-and-go with Herrera and planting a shot top corner for his first score of the season.
Alex Aitken would deny one last good opportunity from UIW, batting away a shot to the high right by Rios.
The Huskies outshot their hosts 13-9 overall and 6-5 on goal. The two rivals combined for 27 fouls, five yellow cards and three reds.
D'Alessandro took four shots, three on goal in collecting his fourth goal of the season to go along with two assists. Dunn and Leza picked up their first career goals on their only shots of the night. Giwa-McNeil took two shots and added an assist.
HCU and UIW remain identical in record, as both teams are now 2-4-3 and open conference play at 0-0-1.
SIUE 6, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - SIUE men's soccer opened its first ever Ohio Valley Conference season with its most prolific offensive output since returning to NCAA Division I play, dominating Southern Indiana 6-0 on the road Thursday.
The win keeps the Cougars unbeaten to start the season at 6-0-2. USI dropped to 1-7-0.
SIUE led 3-0 at half before adding another three in the second half. The six goals are the most in a game for the Cougars since a 7-0 win against Saint Joseph's in 2006.
In total, 10 different SIUE players recorded a goal or an assist in Thursday's game.
Alsadiq Hasan opened the scoring in the 18th minute when SIUE took a ball away from the Southern Indiana backline. Quick passes from Stephan Moreira and Jake Karolczak got the ball on the foot of Hasan who slid home for his team-leading fifth goal of the year.
It is the sixth time this season that SIUE has scored first. The Cougars have won all six of those games.
Mitchell Murphy made it 2-0 in the 26th minute, again coming after a giveaway. Murphy hit a side volley, which skipped over USI goalkeeper Andrew Klott, who had come off his line. Karolczak picked up his second assist on the goal.
Justin Bilyeu made it 3-0 before halftime when he took a long pass from Andres Delascio to the left wing. Bilyeu cut in and scored at the near post.
Delascio made it 4-0 eight minutes into the second half when he scored after a short cross from Moreira. Delascio then struck for his second of the night when he banged home a rebound after an initial shot from Sam Layton was saved.
Connor Gramke cashed in on a penalty kick in the 80th minute for his first goal as a Cougar.
SIUE played a total of 20 players in the game, including redshirt freshman Garrison Hill who made his collegiate debut.
The Cougars outshot the Screaming Eagles 21-2. The 21 shots were the second most in a game, after the 26 in the previous game against Webster. SIUE took 17 shots on goal, which is a season high.
Sam Gomez made one save on his way to his third shutout of the season.