• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – October 29 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Thursday, October 31
*UIW at Western Illinois, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Eastern Illinois, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*HCU at Liberty, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Southern Indiana, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, November 3
*UIW at Liberty, 11:00 a.m. (ESPN+)
*HCU at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Eastern Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Nic Muench, D • 6-1, 167, Sr. • Heidelberg, Germany • SIUE
One of the top defenders on his team, Muench did it on the offensive end of the field this week, scoring a goal and adding an assist in a 3-0 win over Western Illinois. On his Senior Day he scored what proved to be the game-winner just 8:32 into the contest on a give-and-go in the box. In the 20th minute he assisted on another goal as SIUE would win to improve to 6-1-1 in OVC play.
Others Nominated: David Brown, Eastern Illinois; Noe Bijou, Lindenwood; David Davila, Southern Indiana.
DEFENSIVE
Mekhi Wright, D • 5-10, 159, So. • Toronto, Ontario, Canada • Lindenwood
Wright played all 90 minutes as Lindenwood shutout Liberty, the top scoring team in the OVC, 1-0. The sophomore was part of a defense that helped limit the Flames to just seven shots on the night. Overall, it was the fourth shutout in league play for the Lions on the season.
Others Nominated: Theo Butterworth, HCU; Archie McDonnell, SIUE.
GOALKEEPER
Enzo Gil, GK • 6-1, 188, So. • Sao Paulo, Brazil • Lindenwood
Gil made five saves in Lindenwood's 1-0 victory over Liberty on Friday. The Flames are the top scoring team in the OVC but were held to just seven shots in the shutout. One of his saves came in the 87th minute as Lindenwood recorded its fourth OVC shutout of the season. Gil's five saves are tied for the second-most he has made on the season. Gil ranks third in the OVC in total saves (52).
Others Nominated: Alex Aitken, HCU; Rob Gjelaj, SIUE; Alejandro De La Torre, UIW
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Alex Aitken (GK, Jr.), HCU. The junior made two saves while facing six shots in a scoreless draw with UIW. He needs just 10 saves to move into second place in school history.
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Theo Butterworth (D, Fr.), HCU. Played all 90 minutes as HCU played to a scoreless draw with UIW.
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Archie McDonnell (D, Fr), SIUE. Played the most minutes of any SIUE player on the back line, netting 83 minutes in a 3-0 shutout of Western Illinois.
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David Brown (D, Fr.), Eastern Illinois. Brown was a part of both goals as Eastern Illinois had a 2-2 draw with Southern Indiana. He assisted on a goal in the 17th minute and with his team trailing 2-1, evened the game with a goal in the 63rd minute.
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Noe Bijou (D, Sr.), Lindenwood. Scored the game-winning goal in the Lions 1-0 win over Liberty.
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David Davila (F, Fr.), Southern Indiana. Scored USI's first goal against Eastern Illinois; that goal snapped a 569-minute scoring drought for the Eagles. The match ended in a 2-2 draw.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: There is just one week left in the regular season, with each team playing this Thursday and Sunday ... SIUE, HCU, Liberty and Lindenwood have clinched spots in the six-team field while UIW is a win or draw away from locking itself into the field ... SIUE controls its own destiny to win its second-straight OVC regular season championship ... HCU picked up its sixth clean sheet of the season and fifth in OVC play with scoreless draw at rival UIW on Saturday; the team has allowed just 15 goals in 16 matches thus far ... HCU is 6-1-4 in its last 11 matches ... Lindenwood is 4-1-2 in its last seven matches; all four of Lions' OVC wins have been shutouts ... UIW has been involved in four consecutive draws and is 2-0-4 overall in its last six contests ... SIUE ranks first nationally in save percentage (85.1%) while UIW is first in shot accuracy (54.4%) ... Eastern Illinois ranks fifth nationally in saves (5.5/game) while Liberty is 11th in scoring offense (2.1 goals/game) ... SIUE's Robert Gjelaj is second nationally in shutouts (8) and third in save percentage (83.1%) while Liberty's Michael Huss is sixth in shot accuracy (62.5).
2024 OVC Tournament: The 2024 OVC Men's Soccer Championship will be held on the campus of SIUE in Edwardsville, Illinois for the second-straight season. The top six seeds will make the field, with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds getting byes to the semifinals.
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.
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).
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.