• Championship Central | Bracket (PDF)
The 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship got underway on Sunday with a pair of quarterfinal matches. No. 3 Lindenwood topped No. 6 Western Illinois while No. 5 UIW bested No. 4 Liberty.
The Championship was predetermined before the year to be held on the campus of SIUE. The Cougars repeated as regular season champions with a 8-1-1 league mark in 2024. The Cougars and No. 2 seed HCU received byes until Wednesday's semifinals.
Lindenwood, who is reclassifying to Division I, is eligible to win the OVC Tournament Championship. Should the Lions win the tournament title, the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament shall be awarded to the tournament runner-up.
Fans can watch the entire OVC Men's Soccer Championship on ESPN+.
#3 Lindenwood 2, #6 Western Illinois 1
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#5 UIW 2, #4 Liberty 0
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#3 LINDENWOOD 2, #6 WESTERN ILLINOIS 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Lindenwood men's soccer (11-5-3, 6-2-2 OVC) advanced to the Ohio Valley Conference semifinals after defeating #6 Western Illinois (8-11-1, 3-7 OVC) by a final score of 2-1. This marks the second straight season for the Lions that they will play in the semifinals in Edwardsville, Ill. With 11 wins this season, it marks the most by an LU men's soccer program since 2016 (13).
Lindenwood's offense had multiple chances on Sunday and landed two goals in the win. Overall, Lindenwood had 13 total shots with four landing on net. The Lions held the Leathernecks to just eight shots with six of them coming in the second half.
Enzo Gil made two crucial saves down the stretch of the second half after the Leathernecks tied the match early in period. Quinn Connolly's first Lindenwood goal was one of the biggest of the season as it gave Lindenwood the lead and secured their trip to the semifinals.
The Lions struck first in the opening half after an own goal by Western Illinois. During the 11th minute of action Cameron Caldwell tried for a pass into the box to Ethan Blake which was deflected into the net by a WIU defender.
Lindenwood took seven shots during the first half with three landing on goal including the own-goal by the Leathernecks. Gil made one of his three saves in net during the first half as the Lions' defense allowed just two shots in the first 45 minutes of play. The Leathernecks were charged with eight fouls in the first half.
Western Illinois broke into the scoring column on Sunday just over 12 minutes into the second. After Western Illinois took the free kick off a Lindenwood foul by Josh Francombe, the Leathernecks' Liam Gainey scored the equalizer in Edwardsville, Ill. during the 58th minute of play. It marked the first goal the Lions had allowed in the last four matches.
During the 70th minute of play, Connolly took a cross from Jozef Palushaj and struck it in the bottom left of the net to give Lindenwood control at 2-1. Palushaj navigated through two WIU defenders to earn his fifth assist of the season.
Lindenwood's defense was key in the final 10 minutes of the match. Western Illinois has two scoring chances in the final six minutes in Edwardsville, but the Lions blocked two shots to secure the lead.
#5 UIW 2, #4 LIBERTY 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The University of the Incarnate Word men's soccer team beat the Liberty Flames 2-0 in the quarter final of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, advancing to the semi-final for the second teat in the row.
This is the third time the Cardinals and Flames faced off this season. The key number seemed to be two as in the first match Liberty took down UIW 2-0, the two teams tied 2-2 in the second game of the year, and the Cardinals were victorious winning 2-0 in the final matchup.
In the first few minutes of the game were dead even with both teams getting off three shots a piece and both committing four fouls. 20 minutes into the game Sello Diphoko got the ball on the wing and dribbled between defenders making his way in front of goal. Diphoko fired a shot to the top left corner just past the reach of the goalkeeper putting the Cards on top with a rare first half goal.
UIW was not content with just one goal in the half and continued to push for more. Late in the first Miles Merritt sent a ball across the defense that bounced to the head of Manny Martinez and into the goal. The Cardinals finished the first 45 up 2-0.
UIW remained solid in defense earning yet another clean sheet this season and earning a spot in the next round.