• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – September 29 (PDF)
 
This Week’s Schedule
 
Thursday, October 1
*Eastern Illinois at Southern Indiana, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at SIUE, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*HCU at UTRGV, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UIW at Lindenwood, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Sunday, October 4
*UIW at UTRGV, 11:00 a.m. (ESPN+)
*HCU at Lindenwood, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Eastern Illinois, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
 

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OVC Players of the Week
 
OFFENSIVE
Xavier Gagnon, F • 6-1, Sr. • Quebec, Canada • Western Illinois
Gagnon scored three goals as Western Illinois finished non-conference play with a draw at IU Indy and began Conference play with a win at Eastern Illinois. The senior had two goals on three shots at IU Indy, with his goals coming in the 20th and 87th minutes. On Saturday, after the Leathernecks had fallen behind 1-0 early, Gagnon evened the match in the 33rd minute; the team would go on to score late in the match to secure the 2-1 victory. All five of his shots during the week were on goal and he ranks 18th nationally in shot accuracy (63.2%).
 
Others Nominated: Keidin Green, Eastern Illinois; Ryan Okerayi, HCU; Dominic Bartoni, SIUE.
 
DEFENSIVE
Tobias Buch, D • 6-0, Jr. • Skovlunde, Denmark • UTRGV
Buch played all 90 minutes as UTRGV played to a scoreless draw with defending OVC Champion Lindenwood in the OVC opener for both schools. Playing against a team that leads the League in total shots and shots on goal, the Vaqueros limited the Lions to eight shots, only three of which were on goal. The junior played all 90 minutes in the inaugural OVC match for UTRGV.
 
Others Nominated: Chris Grote, HCU; Luke Neely, Lindenwood; Archie McDonnell, SIUE.
 
GOALKEEPER
Quinn Closson, GK • 5-11, 180, 5th Year • Fairfield, Conn. • Lindenwood
Closson produced his second clean sheet over his past three games as Lindenwood played to a scoreless draw at UTRGV in the OVC opener for both schools. The fifth year played all 90 minutes, making four saves to record his fourth overall shutout of the season. Closson has three or more saves in six of his nine games played this season and ranks 10th in shutouts and 22nd nationally in goals against average (0.70).
 
Others Nominated: Harvey Heeps, HCU; Ioannis Koupepides, SIUE; Conrad Knight, UTRGV.
 
 
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
 
• Luke Neely (D, Sr.), Lindenwood. Helped Lindenwood to scoreless draw at UTRGV.
 
• Conrad Knight (GK, So.), UTRGV. Made three saves in producing a clean sheet in Conference opening match with Lindenwood.
 
• Ryan Okeray (F, Sr.), HCU. Scored his 24th career goal and added an assist in 2-1 win over UIW.
 
• Dominic Bartoni (F, Jr.), SIUE. Scored game-winning on penalty kick early in the second half against USI; also added assist in 3-1 victory.
 
• Keidin Green (F, Jr.), Eastern Illinois. Scored a goal in team's midweek game at Marshall.
 
• Chris Grote (D, R-Fr.), HCU. Played 82 minutes in HCU opener OVC campaign with win over UIW.
 
• Ioannis Koupepides (GK, Jr.), SIUE. Made two saves in win over Southern Indiana as Cougars improved to 2-0-1 in its last three matches.
 

Notes From Around the League
 
Highlights From Around the League: Teams played the first of 10 Conference games last Saturday ... HCU, SIUE and Western Illinois each won to grab an early lead in the standings ... Lindenwood and UTRGV played to a draw ... This week's schedule (two matches for every team) includes a Sunday rematch of last year's OVC Championship Game, as Lindenwood hosts HCU ... HCU topped UIW on Saturday to even the all-time series between the rivals at 10-10-4 ... HCU's Ryan Okerayi scored his 24th career goal in that match and is now alone in seventh place in HCU history; he also added his 13th career assist and is just outside the school's top 10 in that category ... Okerayi's 24 career goals ranks him tied for fifth among active Division I players ...Nationally, Lindenwood ranks ninth in shutout percentage (55.6%) and 14th in goals against average (0.67), UIW is second in shot accuracy (59.6%) and Southern Indiana is 10th in saves/game (5.5) ... Individually, USI's Jacob English is 11th in saves/game (5.25), EIU's Sergej Misic is 13th in shots/game (3.63) and WIU's Xavier Gagnon is 18th in shot accuracy (63.2%).
 
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).