• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – September 22 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, September 22
Western Illinois at IU Indy, 5:00 p.m.
Eastern Illinois at Marshall, 6:15 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, September 26
*Western Illinois at Eastern Illinois, 2:00 p.m.
*Lindenwood at UTRGV, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UIW at HCU, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at SIUE, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
OFFENSIVE
Marcos Ayelo, D • 5-8, Sr. • Crystal Alicante, Spain • Eastern Illinois
Ayelo scored twice on four total shots on goal as Eastern Illinois topped Chicago State 4-1 for its first victory of the season. He opened the scoring by finding the back of the net in the 19th minute and then connected on what proved to be the game-winning goal less than four minutes later. He also helped key the EIU defense that allowed just seven shots on the game.
Others Nominated: Archie McDonnell, SIUE.
DEFENSIVE
Luke Neely, D • 6-0, 180, Sr. • Whitehouse, Texas • Lindenwood
Neely played all 180 minutes, helping Lindenwood to a pair of draws against Tulsa and Seattle during the week. He keyed a defense that allowed only seven shots on goal during the two matches. The week began with a 0-0 draw with Tulsa, the fourth shutout of the season for the Lions. The week ended with a 1-1 draw at Seattle.
Others Nominated: Nico Kross, HCU; Anton Mosley, SIUE; Ryan Wrobleski, Western Illinois.
GOALKEEPER
Quinn Closson, GK • 5-11, 180, 5th Year • Fairfield, Conn. • Lindenwood
Closson played 180 minutes last week as Lindenwood earned a pair of draws. The fifth year made six saves and allowed only one goal. He added his third clean sheet of the season against Tulsa, making a season-best five saves, four of which came late in the second half. Closson followed that with a save in a 1-1 draw at Seattle on Sunday. Entering the week, he ranks 34th nationally in goals against average (0.787).
Others Nominated: Kai Odagiri, Eastern Illinois; Ioannis Koupepides, SIUE.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Archie McDonnell (D, 5th Year), SIUE. McDonnell scored a goal in both of SIUE's matches last week, including the equalizer in a draw with Bradley.
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Anton Mosley (D, Jr.), SIUE. Played 118 minutes in two matches last week, helping the SIUE defense allow only one goal. The junior also added an assist on the second goal of the game versus Webster on Sunday.
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Kai Odagiri (GK, Jr.), Eastern Illinois. Made three saves in a 4-1 victory over Chicago State as he picked up his first victory of the season in-goal.
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Ioannis Koupepides (GK, Jr.), SIUE. Played 151 minutes of two matches, making four saves and combining for a shutout in a victory over Webster.
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Nico Kross (D, Sr.), HCU. Played 170 of a possible 180 minutes last week, helping key an attack that tied Oral Roberts on the road on Saturday.
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Ryan Wrobleski (D, Jr.), Western Illinois. Helped key an attack that allowed one goal against Omaha. Played 80 of a possible 90 minutes.
Notes From Around the League
Highlights From Around the League: There are two non-conference games scheduled for Tuesday, and then Conference play gets underway with four matches on Saturday ... It is the first set of games as each team will play 10 OVC contests during the regular season ... Lindenwood earned a pair of draws last week and now has the best winning percentage (56.3%) among League teams ... Southern Indiana earned its first result in its "Mayor's Cup" rivalry with Evansville last week, playing to a scoreless draw last Tuesday ... SIUE played just its second and third home games of the season, tying Bradley and beating Webster; the Cougars and UTRGV (0-0-1) are the only OVC teams without a loss at home this season ... HCU's Ryan Okerayi scored just 2:09 into last week's match with Florida Gulf Coast; it marked the third time in his career he scored in under three minutes from the beginning of the match ... Nationally, UIW is first in shot accuracy (63.0%), Southern Indiana is 10th in saves (5.57/game), Lindenwood is 19th in shutout percentage (50%) and 22nd in team goals against average (0.75) and UTRGV is 24th in corner kicks (6.8/game) ... Individually, USI's Jacob English is fourth in total saves (38), EIU's Sergej Misic is 10th nationally in shots/game (4.17) and Lindenwood's Luca Bartoni is 16th in total goals (5).
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).