• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – October 6 (PDF) 
 
This Week’s Schedule
 
Thursday, October 8
*Eastern Illinois at Western Illinois, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at UIW, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*URTGV at Lindenwood, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at HCU, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Sunday, October 11
*Eastern Illinois at UTRGV, 11:00 a.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at HCU, 1:00 p.m.
*Southern Indiana at UIW, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Lindenwood, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
 

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OVC Players of the Week
 
CO-OFFENSIVE
Bernardo Hanel, MF • 5-10, Jr. • Canela, Brazil • Eastern Illinois
Hanel scored a goal in each of Eastern Illinois' victories last week, helping the Panthers move into a tie for first place in the OVC standings. He was one of five different EIU players who scored in a 6-2 rout of Southern Indiana, finding the back of the net in the 45th minute to push the score to 4-0. In his 33 minutes of playing time against the Screaming Eagles, he had three shots, all of which were on goal. On Sunday Hanel scored at the 88:38 mark, pushing Eastern Illinois to a 1-0 win, its first victory over SIUE since 1996 and ending a 10-game losing streak to the Cougars. That was his only shot in 24 minutes of action in the contest.
 
CO-OFFENSIVE
Nolan Stevens, MF • 5-9, So. • Louisville, Ky. • Southern Indiana
Stevens scored three goals in two matches last week as Southern Indiana split a pair of matches, including picking up its first victory of the season. Against Eastern Illinois to open the week, he found the back of the net in the 51st and 73rd minutes, marking his first goals of the season. On Sunday his goal in the 55th minute proved to be the game-winner, marking the first USI win for first-year head coach Mads Kaiser. In total he played 126 minutes of the two matches, recording seven shots, six of which were on goal.
 
Others Nominated: Aiden Lopez, HCU; Diego Robles, UIW.
 
DEFENSIVE
Clement Baron, D • 6-4, 197, 5th Year • Nana Le Pins, France • Lindenwood
Baron helped key a Lindenwood defense that was 1-0-1 during the week, moving it one point out of first place in the OVC. The fifth year played all 180 minutes, starting with a shutout of UIW to begin the week. In a rematch of last year's OVC Tournament Championship Match on Sunday, Baron scored the equalizing goal in the 75th minute (four minutes after HCU scored) as the teams finished in a 1-1 draw. For the week the Lindenwood defense allowed just three total shots on goal and posted its sixth shutout of the year (the team ranks 11th nationally in shutout percentage at 54.5%). He is the seventh different player to earn OVC Defensive Player of the Week this season.
 
Others Nominated: Nico Kross, HCU; Ryan Wrobleski, Western Illinois.
 
GOALKEEPER
Kai Odagiri, GK • 6-0, Jr. • Kamakura, Japan • Eastern Illinois
Odagirl led Eastern Illinois to a 2-0 week with victories over Southern Indiana and SIUE. The junior played all 90 minutes, allowing two goals against USI before shutting out league-leader SIUE. Odagiri made 11 total saves for the week, bringing his season total to 22 saves in five matches and pushing his record to 3-2-0. He had five saves in the 6-2 victory over the Screaming Eagles to begin the week. He capped the week with six saves against the Cougars, as EIU scored in the 89th minute to win 1-0, snapping a 10-game losing streak to SIUE. Odagiri is the first EIU goalkeeper to earn this award since October 24, 2023.

Others Nominated: Harvey Heeps, HCU; Quinn Closson, Lindenwood; Brady Cochrane, SIUE.
 
 
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
 
• Aidan Lopez (MF, Jr.), HCU. Lopez scored late in the second half against Lindenwood as the two teams finished in a 1-1 draw.
 
• Nico Kross (D, Sr.), HCU. Kross helped lead a defensive effort against defending OVC Champion Lindenwood. He played all 90 minutes as the team allowed four shots on target in a 1-1 draw.
 
• Brady Cochrane (GK, Fr.), SIUE. In the first two starts of his career, the freshman made nine saves over two matches and shutout Western Illinois to begin the week.
 
• Quinn Closson (GK, 5th), Lindenwood. Closson recorded a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over UIW, making two saves. He finished the week with a 1-1 draw against HCU.
 
• Harvey Heeps (GK, R-Fr.), HCU. Heep made three saves in 90 minutes of action against Lindenwood on Sunday.
 
 
Notes From Around the League
 
Highlights From Around the League: Following the first three matches of League play, Eastern Illinois and SIUE are tied for first place with six points apiece ... Eastern Illinois topped SIUE 1-0 on Sunday, scoring in the 89th minute to beat the Cougars for the first time since 1996 (snapping a 10-game losing streak) ... EIU began last week by scoring six goals in a win over Southern Indiana, the most goals in a match for the program since the 2002 season ... SIUE began OVC play with a pair of wins, including a shutout of Western Illinois last Thursday; the team is undefeated at home (4-0-1) but winless on the road (0-5) this season ... Lindenwood is one point back in the standings; the team has five ties this season, two away from breaking the program's NCAA era school record (the current record is six during the 2023 season) ... Lindenwood is 1-0-4 in its last five matches ... Southern Indiana won its first match under new head coach Mads Kaiser, besting Western Illinois 3-1 on Sunday; it was the first win for the program in 367 days ... Last Thursday's match between UTRGV and HCU was suspended with UTRGV leading 1-0 at the 21:42 mark of the first half due to weather; that game will pick up from the point of suspension at a to-be-determined date later this month ... HCU has only one loss in its last six matches (2-1-3) ... HCU's Ryan Okerayi had his 14th career assist on Sunday at Lindenwood, moving him into the Top 10 in HCU history ... Lindenwood and HCU finished the rematch of last year's OVC Championship Match in a 1-1 tie; the teams are 1-1-4 all-time against each other ... Nationally, UIW is third in shot accuracy (54.3%), Southern Indiana is fourth in saves/game (6.10), Lindenwood is seventh in goals against average (0.64) and 11th in shutout percentage (54.5%) and UTRGV is 16th in corner kick (6.86/game) ... Individually, Lindenwood's Quinn Closson is 13th in goals against average (0.66), USI's Jacob English is 10th in saves (5.25/game), UIW's Victor Salmeron is 13th in saves (5.0/game) and EIU's Sergej Misic is 14th in shots/game (3.70).
 
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).
 
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