• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – October 8 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Thursday, October 10
*Liberty at Western Illinois, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UIW at Eastern Illinois, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Lindenwood, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*HCU at Southern Indiana, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, October 13
*UIW at Southern Indiana, 11:00 a.m. (ESPN+)
*Liberty at SIUE, 12:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*HCU at Eastern Illinois, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Lindenwood, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Ethan Blake, F • 5-9, 181, Sr. • Jefferson City, Mo. • Lindenwood
Blake scored two goals (both game-winners) and assisted on another as Lindenwood outscored its opponents 8-0 in a pair of victories last week. In Thursday's win at Southern Indiana, the senior scored in the 9th minute in what proved to be the game-winner. Three days later he scored the game-winner just 2:55 into the match with Eastern Illinois. He later assisted on a goal in the 63rd minute as Lindenwood exploded for six goals in the 6-0 victory. For the week he had seven shots, three on goal, in 115 minutes of action. Overall on the season Blake ranks second in the OVC in points (1.36/game), second in assists (0.64/game) and third in goals (0.36/game).
Others Nominated: Ryan Okerayi, HCU; Nacho Abeal, SIUE; Diego Robles, UIW.
DEFENSIVE
Wes Gibson, D • 6-1, 180, Grad. • Morton, Ill. • SIUE
Gibson played 172 out of a possible 180 minutes as SIUE shut out a pair of opponents to improve to 3-0 in OVC play. The graduate anchored a defense that was able to keep Eastern Illinois and Southern Indiana off the scoresheet despite 20 total shots for the week. Gibson also scored a goal in the 56th minute against EIU, marking his first goal of the season. SIUE leads the OVC in goals against average (1.10) and shutouts (5) through 10 matches this season.
Others Nominated: Theo Butterworth, HCU; Bryce Swinehart, Liberty; Jermaine Mentoor, Lindenwood.
GOALKEEPER
Owen Moore, GK • 5-9, 165, Jr. • Pilesgrove, N.J. • Liberty
Moore produced back-to-back shutouts in Liberty's Texas road trip as the Flames scored a pair of victories. The junior made six saves during the week as the team won 2-0 at UIW and 1-0 at HCU. Moore made two saves against UIW and four against HCU. Moore has produced three clean sheets on the season and allowed only one goal in three OVC contests in 2024. Over his last five games he has an 0.83 GAA and .852 save percentage. For the season he ranks second in the OVC in save percentage (.767).
Others Nominated: Alex Aitken, HCU; Enzo Gil, Lindenwood; Rob Gjelaj, SIUE; Alejandro De La Torre, UIW.
Other Notable Performers
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Bryce Swinehart (D, Jr.), Liberty. Swinehart anchored a defense that did not allow a goal in two road victories. The team only allowed two shots on goal. Swinehart also assisted on a goal in both victories.
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Nacho Abeal (F, Sr.), SIUE. Abeal netted a goal in each of his team's wins last week as the Cougars improved to 3-0 in OVC play.
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Theo Butterworth (D, Fr.), HCU. In addition to playing great defense, Butterworth had two assists in the team's 3-0 win over Western Illinois. For the week he played 166 minutes as HCU allowed only one goal.
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Rob Gjelaj (GK, Grad), SIUE. The graduate student recorded two shutouts, making five total saves in wins over Eastern Illinois and Southern Indiana.
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Diego Robles (F, Fr.), UIW. The freshman scored the game-tying goal in UIW's win over Western Illinois and then assisted on the game-winner in the 79th minute.
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Jermaine Mentoor (D, Sr.), Lindenwood. Mentoor played 156 minutes in two victories, helping Lindenwood to a pair of shutouts, limiting their opponents to just three shots on goal. The senior also scored a goal against EIU.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: Last week marked the first full week of Conference play, with each team playing a pair of matches ... Liberty and SIUE are each 3-0 and will square off on Sunday in Edwardsville ... HCU and Lindenwood are just one game back at 2-1 ... HCU has played just two matches (out of 11) this year decided by more than one goal ... SIUE has not allowed a goal through three Conference matches while Liberty has outscored its opponents 11-1 ... SIUE had 23 and 22 total shots in its last two matches, and had a season-high 14 shots on goal versus USI ... SIUE ranks first nationally in shot accuracy (55.8%) ... Lindenwood had six goals in its win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday; it marked the most goals against a Division I opponent since joining the Division I ranks in 2022 ... Nationally, Liberty ranks sixth in scoring offense (2.56 goals/game) and eighth in points (7.44/game), SIUE is sixth in save percentage (82.8%) and 17th in shutout percentage (50.0%) and Eastern Illinois ranks third in saves/game (6.33) ... Individually, Liberty's Gabe Findley is ninth in assists/game (0.67) while teammate Michael Huss is 10th in goals/game (0.89) and shot accuracy (65.2%) and 20th in points/game (1.78 ... EIU's Chad Smith is ninth in saves/game (5.14) while SIUE's Rob Gjelaj is seventh in shutouts (5) and 22nd in total saves (43).
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+: This year marks the sixth of the OVC’s 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.