• 2026 All-OVC Men's Soccer Teams and Award Winners (PDF)

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - The Ohio Valley Conference announced the 2026 men's soccer award winners and All-Conference teams on Friday, two days ahead of the start of the 2026 OVC Championship which will take place in St. Charles, Missouri.
 
In a vote of league head coaches and communications directors, Lindenwood won four of the top awards, UIW earned two and HCU took home one. Lindenwood senior Luke Neely was named Defender of the Year, fifth year Quinn Closson was tabbed Goalkeeper of the Year, midfielder Javaun Mills earned Midfielder of the Year honors and Kris Bertsch was named the OVC Co-Coach of the Year. Bertsch shared the honor with UIW's Kiki Lara, who saw his junior forward Diego Robles earn Forward of the Year honors. HCU senior Ricardo Garcia was named OVC Midfielder of the Year.

The League also announced the All-OVC first and second teams as well as an All-Newcomer Team.  Lindenwood and HCU tied for the most first and second-team selections with five total honorees while SIUE and UIW had three apiece. Lindenwood had a league-high four All-Newcomer picks.

Neely was instrumental in helping Lindenwood lead the OVC in shutouts during the season, as the Lions blanked eight opponents in 2026, including four in Conference play. In 10 Conference matches, he played the full 900 total minutes and also tallied two goals (on four shots), including a game-winner, and an assist in helping the Lions win its second-straight OVC regular season championship. Nationally, the team was in the Top 20 in both goals against average (8th) and shutout percentage (15th). Overall on the year, Neely came out of only two games, logging over 1500 minutes on the pitch.

In his second year with the program, Closson picked up where he left off in 2025, and helped Lindenwood to its second-straight OVC regular season crown. In 10 Conference matches he allowed just eight goals, tallying an 0.80 goals against average, while making 26 saves and producing four shutouts. Nationally, Closson ranked third in goalie minutes played (1586:32), seventh in shutouts (7), 20th in goals against average (0.79) and 46th in save percentage (76.3%).

In her debut season for Lindenwood, Mills saw action in 14 matches, making 14 total starts as Lindenwood won the OVC regular season title. He played a key part in helping the Lions ranks second in the OVC in scoring offense (1.67 goals/game) and first in shutout percentage (44.0%). He tallied his lone goal of the season in a 4-0 victory over rival SIUE.

Bertsch repeated as OVC Coach of the Year after leading Lindenwood to its second-straight OVC regular season championship. After claiming its first OVC crown a year ago, the team welcomed 23 new players this season and finished 5-2-3 in OVC play (8-4-6 overall) to win the title by one point. The Lions had only two losses over its last 12 regular season matches and ranked in the Top 30 nationally in goals against average (8th, 0.78), shutout percentage (15th, 44%) and goal differential (27th, +16).

After failing to make the six-team OVC Tournament field a season ago, UIW was picked sixth in this year's preseason poll.  After suffering losses in its first two OVC matches, Lara helped turn around the Cardinals season, guiding the team to a 5-1-2 mark the rest of the way and earning the No. 3 seed for the 2026 OVC Tournament. That included a 3-1 victory over regular season champion Lindenwood on the final day of the regular season. UIW ranked third nationally in shot accuracy (52.0%) and 23rd in saves (4.75/game).

In Conference matches, Robles led the OVC in goals (8) and points (16), including having a season-best three goals in a victory over Southern Indiana. In 18 overall matches on the year he had 10 goals on 31 shots on goal. Half of those goals went for game-winners, a mark that ranked him first nationally. Robles also ranked second nationally in shot accuracy (70.5%) and eighth in shots on goal per game (1.94).

Garcia was a key part of the HCU attack, helping the Huskies rank in the top half of the OVC in goals scored offensively, and shutouts defensively. HCU finished 4-3-3 in OVC action, earning the No. 4 seed for the OVC Tournament. He scored two goals on the season, both in OVC play, logging 831 out of a maximum 900 minutes in 10 Conference matches.

2026 All-OVC Men’s Soccer Teams and Award Winners
OVC Forward of the Year: Diego Robles, UIW
OVC Midfielder of the Year: Ricardo Garcia, HCU
OVC Defender of the Year: Luke Neely, Lindenwood
OVC Goalkeeper of the Year: Quinn Closson, Lindenwood
OVC Freshman of the Year: Javaun Mills, Lindenwood
OVC Co-Coach of the Year: Kris Bertsch, Lindenwood
OVC Co-Coach of the Year: Kiki Lara, UIW

ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
GK - Quinn Closson, Lindenwood
D - Luke Neely, Lindenwood
D - Archie McDonnell, SIUE
D - Charles Chimezie, UIW
MF - Ricardo Garcia, HCU
MF - Mouhamed Pouye, UTRGV
MF - Reagan Gyedu, UIW
F - Diego Robles, UIW
F - Xavier Gagnon, Western Illinois
F - Ryan Okerayi
F - Sergej Misic, Eastern Illinois

ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
GK - Harvey Heeps, HCU
D - Andre Ecker, Eastern Illinois
D - Nico Kross, HCU
D - Clement Baron, Lindenwood
D - Fernando Adrados, Western Illinois
MF - Javaun Mills, Lindenwood
MF - Daniel Murray, SIUE
MF - Christian Rotundo, Southern Indiana
F - Ryley Gibbs, SIUE
F - Luca Bartoni, Lindenwood
F - Marcos Moore, HCU

ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
D - Andre Ecker, Eastern Illinois
F - Sergej Misic, Eastern Illinois
GK - Harvey Heeps, HCU
F - Marcos Moore, HCU
D - Clement Baron, Lindenwood
D - Milton Kapaya, Lindenwood
MF - Javaun Mills, Lindenwood
MF - Leland Gray, Lindenwood
GK - Brady Cochrane, SIUE
MF - Christian Rotundo, Southern Indiana
D - Charles Chimezie, UIW
D - Victor van der Aa, UTRGV