• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – November 3 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
2026 OVC Men's Soccer Championship
St. Charles, Mo. (Hunter Stadium)
Sunday, November 8
#4 HCU vs. #5 Western Illinois, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
#3 UIW vs. #6 Eastern Illinois, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wednesday, November 11
#1 Lindenwood vs. Winner Match 1, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
#2 SIUE vs. Winner Match 2, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, November 14
Semifinal Winners, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Christian Rotundo, MF • 5-10, Fr. • Bolton, Ontario • Southern Indiana
Rotundo scored three goals in two matches last week helping Southern Indiana split a pair of matches to cap the regular season. To open the week, he scored a brace against Eastern Illinois, finding the back of the net in the 45th and 59th minute as USI overcame a one-goal deficit to keep its postseason hopes alive. He followed that by scoring the first goal on Sunday against USI, striking in the 15th minute for his fifth goal of the season. Overall, he played 165 minutes over the two matches, taking five shots (three on goal).
Others Nominated: Miguel D'Amico, Eastern Illinois; Ryan Okerayi, HCU; Thato Lekgetho, Lindenwood; Diego Robles, UIW; Xavier Gagnon, Western Illinois.
DEFENSIVE
Ryan Wrobleski, D • 6-0, Jr. • Sussez, Wis. • Western Illinois
Wrobleski played all 180 minutes across two matches as Western Illinois won twice to secure the No. 5 seed for the OVC Tournament. The junior keyed a defense that allowed only one goal, as the Leathernecks shutout SIUE and then topped Southern Indiana 2-1. In the regular season finale against USI, he also assisted on the team's first goal of the game in the 37th minute, evening the match at 1-1.
Others Nominated: Hans Leza, HCU; Luke Neely, Lindenwood; Aarush Kamath, UIW.
CO-GOALKEEPER
Victor Salmeron, GK • 6-3, R-Jr. • Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain • UIW
Salmeron made 15 saves over two matches, helping UIW to a 1-0-1 mark as the team earned the No. 3 seed for the OVC Tournament. He began the week making six saves and allowing just one goal in a 1-1 draw at UTRGV. He capped the week with a career-high nine saves as the Cardinals defeated OVC regular season champion Lindenwood 3-1.
CO-GOALKEEPER
Drew Heller, GK • 6-2, So. • Jefferson City, Mo. • Western Illinois
Heller allowed only one goal over two matches, as Western Illinois won twice to secure a spot in the upcoming OVC Tournament field. He opened the week with five saves in a shutout over SIUE. He faced 17 total shots in the match. Three days later he allowed an early goal against Southern Indiana but finished with a pair of saves as WIU won 2-1 to secure its postseason berth.
Others Nominated: Harvey Heeps, HCU; Quinn Closson, Lindenwood.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
•
Xavier Gagnon (F, Sr.), Western Illinois. After WIU fell behind 1-0 on Sunday, scored in the 37th and 62nd minutes to lift Leathernecks to a 2-1 win and OVC Tournament berth.
•
George Frost (F, Jr.), Western Illinois. Scored both goals as Western Illinois shutout SIUE to begin a 2-0 week as the Leathernecks earned No. 5 seed for the OVC Tournament.
•
Miguel D'Amico (D, Jr.), Eastern Illinois. Scored a pair of goals in 3-3 tie with SIUE on Sunday.
•
Ryan Okerayi (F, Sr.), HCU. Capped the regular season with a pair of goals in a 4-0 victory over UTRGV. That increased his season goals total to six and career total to 27.
•
Aarush Kamath (D, Sr.), UIW. Keyed a defense that allowed only two goals last week, as UIW went 1-0-1.
•
Hans Leza (D, Sr.), HCU. Was part of a defense that allowed two goals in opening match of the week but rebounded to shutout UTRGV and earned No. 4 seed for OVC Tournament.
•
Quinn Closson (GK, 5th), Lindenwood. Made eight saves in two matches and began the week with a shutout at HCU, his seventh clean sheet of the season.
GENERAL TOURNAMENT NOTES
This year marks the fourth-ever OVC Men's Soccer Championship ... For the second year in a row it is on the campus of Lindenwood University ... The host Lions were the No. 1 seed last year and won two matches to claim the Championship and become the first LU program to compete in a Division I NCAA Championship ... The No. 1 seed has won each of the first three OVC Tournaments ... No team who has played in the first round (seed 3-6) has advanced to the Title Round ... Five of the six teams in the field were in the event a year ago (UIW being the exception).
EASTERN ILLINOIS
Appearances: 3 (2023, 2025, 2026)
All-Time Record: 1-2 (includes PK win)
Titles: 0
Eastern Illinois was victorious in the first-ever OVC Tournament game, which was in 2023 in Edwardsville; that year the Panthers knocked off Liberty 3-1 in a shootout ... The Panthers are in the field for the second-straight year after playing SIUE to a draw on the final day of the regular season, and then waiting for the result between WIU/USI (WIU won, putting EIU in the field) ... As the No. 6 seed, Eastern will play No. 3 seed UIW ... UIW won the regular season matchup between the teams (2-1).
HCU
Appearances: 3 (2024, 2025, 2026)
All-Time Record: 2-2 (includes 1 OT, 1 PK loss)
Titles: 0
After not qualifying for the inaugural OVC Championship (2023), HCU has advanced to the Title Match in each of the last two years, falling in overtime in 2024 and in a shootout in 2025 ... Among active Division I players, senior Ryan Okerayi ranks fifth nationally in career points (71) and eighth in career goals (27) ... This season the team is the No. 4 seed, and will open Tournament play against No. 5 Western Illinois, a team they beat 3-0 in the regular season.
LINDENWOOD
Appearances: 4 (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026)
All-Time Record: 4-2 (includes PK win)
Titles: 1 (2025)
Lindenwood is the defending champion, having topped HCU in PK's last year on its home turf ... The Lions have qualified for all four OVC Tournaments, advancing to the semifinal rounds in 2023 and 2024 ... The Lions are the No. 1 seed for the second-straight year, having won the OVC regular season championship with 18 points, one more than SIUE ... Lindenwood will play either HCU or Western Illinois in the semifinals; the Lions were 1-0-1 against HCU and 0-0-1 against WIU in 2026.
SIUE
Appearances: 4 (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026)
All-Time Record: 5-1 (includes OT win)
Titles: 2 (2023, 2024)
SIUE won the first two OVC Tournament Championships, both coming on its home turf (2023, 2024) ... Last year the Cougars were the No. 4 seed and won a first round game before falling to eventual champion Lindenwood in the second round ... This season the team finished tied for second in the standings, as the winner of its scheduling pod (which includes EIU, USI and WIU), earned the No. 2 seed and a bye to the semifinals ... SIUE played EIU to a 3-3 draw on the final day of the regular season; a win would have given the team the OVC regular season title ... The Cougars will play either UIW or Eastern Illinois in the semifinals; SIUE was 0-0-1 against UIW and 0-1-1 against EIU.
UIW
Appearances: 3 (2023, 2024, 2026)
All-Time Record: 2-2
Titles: 0
UIW advanced to the Title Match of the inaugural OVC Championship in 2023, falling 1-0 to host SIUE ... The team was 1-1 in 2024 before not qualifying for last year's event ... The Cardinals are back in the field this year after tying for second in the standings and earning the No. 3 seed ... UIW topped the regular season champion Lindenwood in the regular season finale ... As the No. 3 seed UIW will play No. 6 Eastern Illinois in the first round; UIW won the regular season matchup 2-1.
WESTERN ILLINOIS
Appearances: 3 (2024, 2025, 2026)
All-Time Record: 0-2
Titles: 0
Western Illinois has been in the OVC Tournament field in each of the past three seasons ... The Leathernecks have lost first round matchups in each of the past two seasons ... The team won the final regular season matchup of the year, knocking off Southern Indiana 2-1 to lock up a spot in the field, this year as the No. 5 seed ... WIU will play No. 4 seed HCU to open the Tournament; HCU won the regular season matchup between the teams (3-0).
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: The field is set for the 2026 OVC Tournament Championship, the fourth-ever OVC Tournament ... Five of the six teams who qualified for the field were in the 2025 event (UIW being the new team) ... Lindenwood was 1-1 during the final week of the regular season to finish 5-2-3 in OVC play to claim its second-straight OVC regular season title; the Lions were the pre-determined host of the OVC Tournament for the second-straight year ... It is the first back-to-back conference titles for the program since 2012-13 when they were members of the Division II MIAA ... Lindenwood goalkeeper Quinn Closson recorded his seventh total shutout of the season in Sunday's regular season finale, which set the Lindenwood Division I record ... Western Illinois won a pair of matches the final week of the season to vault to the No. 5 seed in the OVC Tournament field ... HCU's Ryan Okerayi had a brace on the final day of the regular season to push his career goal total to 27, one shy of sixth place in HCU history, and currently ranks eighth nationally among active players.
Lindenwood Wins Regular Season Championship: Lindenwood claimed its second-straight OVC regular season championship, finishing 5-2-3 in OVC play (18 points) to top SIUE by one point. It marks the first time the program has claimed back-to-back regular season titles since 2012 & 2013, when the Lions were members of MIAA (Division II).
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).