• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – October 1 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Thursday, October 3
*Lindenwood at Southern Indiana, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at SIUE, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Liberty at UIW, 7:00 p.m.
*Western Illinois at HCU, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 5
*Southern Indiana at SIUE, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, October 6
*Eastern Illinois at Lindenwood, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at UIW, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Liberty at HCU, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Michael Huss, F • 6-2, 175, Sr. • Phoenix, Ariz. • Liberty
Huss recorded his first career hat trick in Liberty's 7-1 Conference-opening victory over Western Illinois. The senior scored in the 17th, 55th and 61st minutes as the Flames opened a 3-0 lead and never looked back. For the week he had six total shots (four on goal), including one in a one-goal loss to nationally-ranked Clemson. Huss has seven goals on the season, which has already eclipsed his career-high. His seven goals rank tied for ninth nationally while his goals/game average (1.0) ranks third.
Others Nominated: Sam Eccles, Eastern Illinois; Ryan Okerayi, HCU; Yasha Schaerer, SIUE; Jackson Mitchell, Southern Indiana; Liam Gainey, Western Illinois.
DEFENSIVE
Nic Muench, D • 6-1, 167, Sr. • Heidelberg, Germany • SIUE
Muench anchored a defense that picked up its third shutout of the season, blanking Lindenwood 2-0 to begin OVC play. The senior played all 90 minutes and kept the Lions off the board despite eight total shots. Muench also contributed to the offensive effort, making several runs down the wing and also added a shot on goal.
Others Nominated: Theo Butterworth, HCU; Gartland Hall, Southern Indiana.
GOALKEEPER
Rob Gjelaj, GK • 6-2, 185, Grad. • Romeo, Mich. • SIUE
Gjelaj earned the honor for the fourth time this season after helping SIUE record a 2-0 shutout over Lindenwood to begin OVC play. The graduate made two saves in picking up his third shutout of the season. Gjelaj ranks 19th nationally in total saves (38).
Others Nominated: Alex Aitken, HCU.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
•
Garland Hall (D/MF, Sr.), Southern Indiana. Played 161 matches over two victories, helping USI allow only one goal during the week. Since he has moved to the midfield, USI has allowed just two goals in its last three matches, after allowing 3.5 per match over its first six matches.
•
Jackson Mitchell (F, So.), Southern Indiana. Mitchell scored two goals in the Screaming Eagles 2-0 week, including the game-winner against Rose-Hulman. That goal snapped USI's 380-minute scoreless streak.
•
Liam Gainey (F, Jr.), Western Illinois. Gainey scored two goals, including the game-winner at IU Indy (which was the team's third-straight victory). He ranks second in the OVC in goals (5) and points (12).
•
Yasha Schaerer (F, So.), SIUE. He scored the game-winning goal in the Cougars' 2-0 victory over Lindenwood. The goal came just 46 seconds into the contest.
•
Sam Eccles (F, Grad.), Eastern Illinois. Eccles scored the game-equalizing goal in the team's eventual 2-1 loss at Southern Indiana on Sunday.
•
Theo Butterworth (D, Fr.), HCU. Helped limit UIW to one goal as HCU started Conference play with a 2-1 victory. He won several crucial headers down the stretch of the win.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: Conference play got underway with four matches this past weekend; HCU, Liberty, SIUE and Southern Indiana picked up wins ... SIUE is now 10-0-1 all-time in OVC games after its win over Lindenwood ... Liberty's Michael Huss recorded a hat trick in the team's win over Western Illinois; Huss now has seven goals on the season and ranks tied for ninth nationally ... Huss also ranks third nationally in goals/game (1.0) and fifth in points/game (2.0) ... In the final 17 minutes of the game, HCU scored two goals in a span of 2:36 to top rival UIW; the Huskies are now unbeaten in last four with just one match in nine this season decided by more than one goal ... Southern Indiana's Jackson Mitchell snapped the Screaming Eagles' 380-minute scoreless drought with his goal versus Rose-Hulman; he also added a goal in the team's win over Eastern Illinois on Sunday ... USI has now recorded back-to-back wins for the first time since 2021 ... USI goalkeeper Andrew Klott has a 0.67 GAA in the last three matches, compared to 3.45 in the first six ... Western Illinois began last week with a 2-1 road victory over IU Indy; with the win the team completed the non-conference portion of its schedule with five wins, its most since the 2016 season ... That was the team's third-straight win and fifth win in six games overall (prior to its loss at Liberty on Saturday) ... At that point WIU was 5-3-1, which was its best start to a season since 2008 ... Nationally, Liberty ranks second in scoring offense (2.86 goals/game), third in points (8.29/game) and 10th in assists (2.57/game) while SIUE is first in shot accuracy (.593) and 19th in save percentage (.814) ... Individually, Liberty's Gabe Findley is second in assists (0.86/game), EIU's Chad Smith is ninth in saves/game (5.0) and SIUE's Rob Gjelaj is 19th in total saves (38).
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.