• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – October 20 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Wednesday, October 21
HCU at UTRGV, 6:30 p.m. (resumption of 10/1 suspended game)
Friday, October 23
*Eastern Illinois at Lindenwood, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 24
*Western Illinois at UTRGV, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Southern Indiana, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, October 25
*HCU at UIW, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Diego Robles, F • 6-0, Jr. • San Antonio, Texas • UIW
Robles earned the Offensive Player of the Week for the second-straight week after scoring a goal in each of UIW's road victories last week as the Cardinals moved into a tie for first place in the OVC standings. He scored in the 87th minute to even Thursday's match with Eastern Illinois, which would end up being a 2-1 win. In Sunday's 1-0 win over Western Illinois, Robles found the back of the net in the 57th minute to lift his team to the victory. For the week he had four shots on goal in 118 minutes. Robles leads the OVC with nine goals, including four game-winners. His 73.5 percent shot accuracy is first nationally.
Others Nominated: Sergej Misic, Eastern Illinois; Ryan Okerayi, HCU; Grant Locker, SIUE; Ian Graham, Southern Indiana; Elias Taj, UTRGV.
DEFENSIVE
Charles Chimezie, D • 6-3, Jr. • Dallas, Texas • UIW
Chimezie played all 180 minutes in two road victories last week for UIW who moved into a tie for first place. He helped key a defense that allowed only one goal during the week, coming in the 37th minute in a 2-1 win over EIU. The team finished the week with a 1-0 shutout of Western Illinois.
Others Nominated: Andre Ecker, Eastern Illinois; Milton Kapaya, Lindenwood; Fernando Adrados, Western Illinois.
GOALKEEPER
Victor Salmeron, GK • 6-3, R-Jr. • Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain • UIW
Salmeron made 12 saves over two matches while allowing just one goal as UIW won a pair of road matches to move into a tie for first place in the OVC. The junior started the week by making six saves and allowing a first half goal as the Cardinals won 2-1. He capped the week with six more saves in a shutout victory over Western Illinois. His play has helped UIW to a 4-0-1 record over its last five matches. Salmeron ranks 13th nationally in saves per game (4.9).
Others Nominated: Harvey Heeps, HCU; Quinn Closson, Lindenwood; Louis Krueger, SIUE; Kael McGowman, Southern Indiana
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Elias Taj (F, Jr.), UTRGV. Scored two goals, including the game-winner, in 4-3 road win over Southern Indiana.
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Ian Graham (D, Sr.), Southern Indiana. The senior scored two goals, on just two shots, against UTRGV.
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Grant Locker (F, Jr.), SIUE. Had a goal and assist as SIUE topped UTRGV 3-0.
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Milton Kapaya (D, Jr.), Lindenwood. Helped key a defense that allowed just one goal over two matches during the week, including earning its fifth shutout of the season.
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Louis Krueger (GK, Jr.), SIUE. In his lone match of the week, recording five saves in producing a shutout victory over UTRGV.
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Kael McGowan (GK, Sr.), Southern Indiana. Recorded five saves in earning a clean sheet victory over Lindenwood.
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Sergej Misic (MF, Sr.), Eastern Illinois. Had a goal and assist in two matches last week.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: UIW was the only team to win both of its matches last week, winning road contests at Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois to climb into a tie for first place with SIUE (13 points) ... It marked the first two road wins of the season for the Cardinals who are 4-0-1 over its last five matches ... Six other OVC teams were 1-1 last week (with Western Illinois going 0-2) ... USI picked up its first home victory of the season by knocking off Lindenwood on Sunday; it was the first win for the Screaming Eagles over the Lions since 2023 ... Eastern Illinois topped HCU on Sunday, its first win over the Huskies since men's soccer started in the OVC in 2023, and first overall win over the program since 1985 ... HCU's Ryan Okerayi scored his 25th career goal on Sunday, moving him into seventh place in school history; he also had his 16th career assist during the week to move into sixth-place all-time at HCU ... UTRGV earned its first-ever OVC win on October 15 at Southern Indiana; the team scored four second half goals (for the first time since 2017) to pull out the win ... On Wednesday, HCU and UTRGV will resume its suspended game from October 1 ... Nationally, UIW is sixth in shot accuracy (51.2%), Southern Indiana is fifth in saves (6.14/game), UTRGV is 10th in corner kicks (7.0/game) and Lindenwood is sixth in goals against average (0.67), 12th in shutout percentage (46.7%) and 17th in goal differential (+15) ... Individually, UIW's Diego Robles is first in shot accuracy (73.5%), fourth in game-winning goals (4) and 18th in goals per game (0.69), Lindenwood's Quinn Closson is third in goalie minutes played (1316:32), fifth in shutouts (6), 13th in goals against average (0.68) and EIU's Sergej Misic is seventh in shots/game (4.0) and nine in shots on goal/game (1.93).
EIU Records First Win over SIUE Since 1996: Eastern Illinois scored in the 89th minute on October 4 to defeat SIUE 1-0, it snapped a 10-game losing streak for the Panthers against the Cougars dating back to the 1996 season.
SIUE Wins Bronze Boot: SIUE topped rival Saint Louis (ranked No. 16 at the time) to claim the Bronze Boot match on Sunday, September 6. It marked the third time in four years that SIUE claimed the trophy. The rivalry dates back to 1969.
Okerayi Named to Players to Watch List: The United Soccer Coaches named its selection of forwards on its NCAA Division I Men's Players to Watch list for the 2026 season, with HCU's
Ryan Okerayi being named as one of 28 across the country. Okerayi is the first player in HCU program history to be recognized as part of a list compiled and released by the All-America Committees. The national watch-list acknowledgement is a lead up for the prestigious Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy, which is presented to the National Player of the Year at the end of the regular season.
Fourth Season of OVC Men's Soccer: This year marks the fourth 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 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV are affiliate members, giving the OVC eight men’s soccer programs. This marks the first season for UTRGV in the OVC; the addition of Vaqueros gives the OVC its third men’s soccer institution in the state of Texas. Located in Edinburg, Texas, the program spent 10 seasons in the WAC before becoming an Independent for the 2025 season.
2026 OVC Tournament: The 2026 OVC Men's Soccer Championship will be held on the campus of Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri for the second-straight season. The top six seeds make the field, with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds getting byes to the semifinals. The eight OVC men's soccer teams are divided into two scheduling pods, with each team playing the other teams in its pod twice during the season, and teams in the other pod once. The tournament format gives the winner of each pod a first round tournament bye. Seeds 3-6 are based on total points, regardless of scheduling pod.
Lindenwood Picked as 2026 OVC Preseason Favorite: Defending OVC champion Lindenwood has been predicted the preseason favorite ahead of the 2026 OVC men's soccer season. The Lions picked up 11 of 16 first-place votes and 94 points in the poll of league head coaches and communications directors. HCU (who has been in the OVC Tournament Final each of the past two years) and SIUE (who won the regular season and tournament titles in 2023 and 2024) finished tied for second-place with 80 total points. The Huskies picked up two first-place votes while SIUE received three. The poll was founded out by Eastern Illinois (54), UTRGV (46), UIW (42), Western Illinois (36) and Southern Indiana (18).
ESPN+: The OVC has a media rights deal with ESPN to air games on ESPN+, which is a service that features over 30,000 live events across college, international soccer, golf, tennis, combat, and the full ESPN Originals library. Fans have access to ESPN+ content via any ESPN subscription or Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Bundle subscription, as well as certain TV provider offerings. Please check with your TV provider to see if your TV package includes ESPN (Select or Unlimited offerings).