• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – October 15 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Wednesday, October 16
*Southern Indiana at Western Illinois, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Thursday, October 17
*Eastern Illinois at Liberty, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at HCU, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at UIW, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, October 20
*Southern Indiana at Liberty, 12:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at HCU, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at UIW, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Western Illinois, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Nacho Abeal, F • 5-9, 160, Sr. • A Couna, Spain • SIUE
Abeal scored two goals in the final 10 minutes as SIUE went on the road to top Lindenwood 2-0 on Thursday. The senior converted a penalty kick in the 81st minute before sealing the victory with a goal in the 89th minute. For the week he has four shots on goal in 149 minutes of action as SIUE won twice to improve to 5-0 in League play. In OVC play this season Abeal ranks tied for first in goals (0.80/game) and points (1.6/game).
Others Nominated: Ethan Giwa-McNeil, HCU; Ethan Blake, Lindenwood; William Fagerberg, UIW.
DEFENSIVE
Joel McIntyre, D • 6-0, So. • Peoria, Ill. • Western Illinois
McIntyre earned his third Defensive Player of the Week honor of the season after anchoring a defense that allowed only one goal last week as he played all 180 minutes. To begin the week, he helped Western Illinois to a 1-0 victory over Liberty, becoming the first OVC team to record a shutout against the Flames. In Sunday's match at Lindenwood, he made a goal-line clearance in the 57th to keep things tied before another Leatherneck defender gave up a penalty kick in the 81st minute.
Others Nominated: Kyle Ward, Eastern Illinois; Sam Zeeman, HCU; Mekhi Wright, Lindenwood; Bobby Pauly, SIUE; Rochaine Baker, UIW.
GOALKEEPER
Rob Gjelaj, GK • 6-2, 185, Grad. • Romeo, Mich. • SIUE
In two victories last week, Gjelaj made 11 saves and conceded only an own goal, as SIUE improved to 5-0 in OVC play to take over sole possession of first place. The graduate student picked up his league-leading sixth shutout of the year on Thursday at Lindenwood, turning way 12 shots, including five on goal. In Sunday's 3-1 win over Liberty, he stopped six shots, only allowing the own goal on a deflection. This marks his fifth OVC Goalkeeper of the Week honor of the season. Gjelaj ranks fifth nationally in shutouts (6), 10th in total saves (54) and 17th in saves/game (4.63).
Others Nominated: Alex Aitken, HCU; Enzo Gil, Lindenwood; Andrew Klott, Southern Indiana; Micah Ramirez, Western Illinois; Alejandro De La Torre, UIW.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Ethan Giwa-McNeil (F, So.), HCU. Giwa-McNeil scored a goal and had two assists as HCU won a pair of road games last week. His goal game at Southern Indiana while both of his assists were at Eastern Illinois.
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Alex Aitken (GK, Jr.), HCU. Aitken made 11 saves over two games as HCU had a pair of road shutouts to move into second place in the league standings. Aitken now has over 200 career saves, only the third keeper in school history to achieve the feat.
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Bobby Pauly (D, Grad.), SIUE. Pauly played all 180 minutes in a pair of wins and anchored a defense that allowed only an own goal.
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Sam Zeeman (D, Sr.), HCU. The senior was part of a staunch defensive effort that did not allow a goal in two road victories. He played 173 minutes in the two matches.
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Ethan Blake (F, Sr.), Lindenwood. Blake scored the game-winning goal off a penalty kick in the 81st minute of Sunday's match with Western Illinois. Blake has four game-winning goals this season.
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Alejando De La Torre (GK, Grad.), UIW. The graduate student allowed only one goal in two road matches last week as UIW was 1-0-1 for the week. De La Torre made eight saves over the two matches while facing 21 total shots.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: We are at the halfway point of the Conference season following the past weekend ... SIUE won two matches to improve to 5-0 and take over sole possession of first place; the Cougars are now 14-0-1 in OVC play over the past two seasons ... SIUE has outscored OVC opponents 12-1 in five matches so far this year ... HCU won a pair of road matches last week to move to 4-1 in League action; they have already eclipsed their Conference point total from the entire 2023 season (10) ... HCU is 5-1-0 over its last six matches ... Goalkeeper Alex Aitken became the third player in school history to achieve 200 or more saves after recording 11 saves in the two shutouts ... Lindenwood has tied its Division I era record for overall wins (7) and OVC wins (3); all three of the team's OVC victories have been by shutout this season ... After losing 7-1 at Liberty on September 28, Western Illinois shutout the Flames 1-0 in Macomb last week ... Nationally, SIUE ranks second in save percentage (84.2%), Eastern Illinois is third in saves/game (6.18) and UIW is first in shot accuracy (55.9%) and 12th in shots on goal (6.91/game) ... SIUE's Yasha Schaerer is 10th nationally in game-winning goals (3) while teammate Rob Gjelaj is fifth in shutouts (6), 10th in total saves (54) and 17th in saves/game (4.63) ... EIU's Chad Smith is 12th in saves/game (4.63).
Second Season of OVC Men's Soccer: This year marks the second season of OVC men's soccer, which was announced as the league's 19th sport in March 2023. Five OVC institutions currently field men’s soccer teams: Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood, SIUE, Southern Indiana and Western Illinois. In addition, Houston Christian (HCU), Incarnate Word (UIW) and Liberty are affiliate members, giving the OVC eight men’s soccer programs. This is the first year for WIU in the league (they competed in the Summit League last season).
All Teams Eligible for OVC Tournament: Both reclassifying teams, Lindenwood and Southern Indiana, are eligible to compete and win the OVC Tournament Championship this season. Should a transitioning school win an OVC Tournament Championship, the AQ shall be awarded to the tournament runner-up. Should the tournament runner-up also be a transitioning school, the AQ representative shall be the semifinalist that had the highest remaining seed going into the tournament.
SIUE Picked as 2024 OVC Preseason Favorite: Defending regular season and tournament champion SIUE was predicted the preseason favorite ahead of the 2024 OVC men's soccer season. The Cougars picked up 11 of 16 first-place votes and 95 points in the poll of league head coaches and communications directors. Liberty picked up three first-place votes and 79 points in being tabbed second, followed by UIW (67 points), Lindenwood (66) and HCU (59 points and the final two first-place votes). The poll was rounded out Eastern Illinois (36 points), newcomer Western Illinois (25) and Southern Indiana (21).
ESPN+: The OVC has a media rights deal with ESPN to air games on ESPN+, the multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company Direct-to-Consumer & International segment. This season over 200 men’s and women’s basketball regular season Conference games and non-conference games will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for $10.99 a month (or $109.99 per year) or as part of a bundle with Disney+ and ad-supported Hulu ($15.99/month). ESPN+ is an integrated part of the ESPN App (on mobile and connected devices). More information can be found at www.OVCSports.com/ESPN.