• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – September 15 (PDF)
This Week's Schedule
Tuesday, September 15
Southern Indiana at Evansville, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Tulsa
at Lindenwood, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
UTRGV at Oral Roberts, 7:00 p.m. (Summit League Network)
Wednesday, September 16
Bradley
at SIUE, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Eastern Illinois at Chicago State, 7:00 p.m. (NEC Front Row)
Florida Gulf Coast
at HCU, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Thursday, September 17
Omaha
at Western Illinois, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, September 18
Southern Indiana at Belmont, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Florida Gulf Coast at
UIW, 7:00 p.m.
UTRGV at Air Force, 7:00 p.m. (MW+)
Saturday, September 19
HCU at Oral Roberts, 7:00 p.m. (Summit League Network)
Sunday, September 20
Webster
at SIUE, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Lindenwood at Seattle, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Clarenns Sainrimat, F • 6-2, Jr. • Crystal Lake, Ill. • HCU
Sainrimat scored the game-winning goal as HCU topped Grand Canyon 1-0 in Phoenix last Monday. The sophomore played 53 minutes and took only one shot, finding the back of the net in the 34th minute against the Antelopes, who were ranked in the Top 25 to begin the season.
Others Nominated: Nolan Getzinger, Eastern Illinois; Garrett Morris, Southern Indiana.
DEFENSIVE
Nico Kross, D • 6-2, 190, Sr. • Heidenheim, Germany • HCU
Kross played all 90 minutes as HCU topped Grand Canyon 1-0 last week. He helped come up with three key blocks and a clearance off the line late as the Huskies knocked off the Antelopes, who were ranked in the Preseason Top 25. He has played all 90 minutes in four of six matches this season and in 21 of 25 career appearances with HCU.
Others Nominated: Miguel D'Amico, Eastern Illinois.
GOALKEEPER
Harvey Heeps, GK • 6-1, 175, R-Fr. • Bedfordshire, England • HCU
Heeps made nine saves in recording his second clean sheet of the season in a 1-0 victory at Grand Canyon. He also assisted on the game-winning goal, on a long free kick in the 34th minute of the contest. Heeps faced 27 total shots, nine of which were on goal against a team ranked in the Preseason Top 25 and coming off a victory in which they had scored seven goals. He has 29 saves on the season, which ranks 12th nationally.
Others Nominated: none
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
• Nolan Getzinger (F, Jr.), Eastern Illinois. Scored his first goal of the season, finding the back of the net in the 13th minute. That tied the match which would eventually end in a 3-3 draw against Bradley.
• Garrett Morris (D, Sr.), Southern Indiana. Morris scored his first career goal, striking in the 80th minute against Marquette, a goal that gave the Screaming Eagles the lead.
• Miguel D'Amico (D, Sr.), Eastern Illinois. Helped anchor a back line as EIU played to a draw with Bradley.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: This is the last full week of non-conference action before Conference play begins ... There are two non-conference games on Tuesday, September 22, with League play beginning on Saturday, September 26 for all eight games ... UTRGV, which did not play last week, is the only unbeaten team in the OVC, with a 2-0-1 record, including a pair of road victories; they have a pair of road games this week ... HCU topped Grand Canyon last Monday 1-0 and swept the weekly OVC awards ... Goalkeeper Harvey Heeps had nine saves in making a shutout and assisted on the game-winning goal (the first assist by a HCU goalkeeper since 2015) ... HCU is ranked No. 109 in the RPI and has the 64th ranked SOS entering the week ... Nationally, UTRGV ranks seventh in shot accuracy (55.3%), 10th in scoring offense (3.0 goals/game), 11th in points/game (8.67) and 17th in assists/game (2.67), HCU is 11th in saves/game (5.83) and UIW is second in shot accuracy (65.9%) ... Individually, Lindenwood's Luca Bartoni is fifth in shot accuracy (75.0%) and 12th in goals/game (0.83), USI's Jacob English is sixth in saves/game (5.60) and HCU's Harvey Heeps is 12th in saves (29).
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).