• OVC Men’s Soccer Report – September 8 (PDF)

This Week’s Schedule
 
Monday, September 7
@#3 SMU 3, UIW 0
HCU 1, @Grand Canyon 0

Tuesday, September 8
Bellarmine at Southern Indiana, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Thursday, September 10
SIUE at Loyola Chicago, 6:30 p.m.
Western Illinois at UIC, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Friday, September 11
Bradley at Eastern Illinois, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Evansville at Lindenwood, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Saturday, September 12
Southern Indiana at Marquette, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
 

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OVC Players of the Week
 
OFFENSIVE
Elias Taj, F • 6-2, Jr. • Copenhagen, Denmark • UTRGV
Taj scored twice and assisted on two other goals as UTRGV blasted South Florida 5-0 on Sunday night. The margin was the largest on the road ever for the program against a Division I opponent. The junior assisted on a goal just 24 seconds into the match and then again in the 13th minute. With the Vaqueros leading 3-0 in the second half, Taj scored in the 70th and 82nd minutes on his only shots of the evening (he played 48 of the 90 minutes). The six-point performance is the most by an OVC player this season and tied for the third-most nationally. He was the first UTRGV player with six points in a match since 2021.
 
Others Nominated: Bernardo Hanel, Eastern Illinois; Callum Niven, HCU; Luca Bartoni, Lindenwood; Ryley Gibbs, SIUE; Diego Robles, UIW; Xavier Gagnon, Western Illinois.
 
DEFENSIVE
Bobby Pauly, D • 6-0, 170, Sr. • St. Charles, Mo. • SIUE
Pauly was instrumental in SIUE's 1-0 win over No. 16 Saint Louis, as the Cougars captured the Bronze Boot for the third time in four seasons. In the team's home opener, the senior played all 90 minutes, helping SIUE record its first shutout of the season. He also assisted on the only goal of the game, coming by Ryley Gibbs in the 37th minute.
 
Others Nominated: Luke Neely, Lindenwood; Kris Martial, Southern Indiana; Giovanni Padilla, UIW; Victor van der Aa, UTRGV; Ryan Wrobleski, Western Illinois.
 
GOALKEEPER
Ioannis Koupepides, GK • 6-1, 185, Jr. • Nicosia, Cyprus • SIUE
Koupepides earned his first shutout as a member of the SIUE program, blanking rival and nationally-ranked foe (No. 16) Saint Louis as the Cougars claimed the Bronze Boot. The junior made five saves, including two in the final 15 minutes, one coming with just over two minutes to play at the Billikens were trying to level the match.
 
Others Nominated: Quinn Closson, Lindenwood; Jacob English, Southern Indiana.
 
 
Other Notable Performers
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
 
• Ryley Gibbs (F, Jr.), SIUE. Scored the lone goal as SIUE knocked off No. 16 Saint Louis to claim the Bronze Boot.
 
• Callum Niven (F, Jr.), HCU. Scored both HCU goals (31st, 79th minutes) in a 2-2 draw at Cal State Northridge.
 
• Diego Robles (F, Jr.), UIW. Had a pair of goals in 54 minutes of action as the Cardinals topped Our Lady of the Lake for its first win of the season.
 
• Luke Neely (D, Sr.), Lindenwood. Played all 90 minutes in helping the Lions to a 2-0 shutout win at Butler.
 
• Quinn Closson (GK, 5th), Lindenwood. Made three saves in 2-0 win over Butler, earning his second clean sheet of the 2026 season.
 
• Kris Martial (D, Sr.), Southern Indiana. Played all 90 minutes in 1-0 loss to IU Indy, with the lone goal coming via PK.
 
• Victor van der Aa (D, Fr.), UTRGV. Helped Vaqueros to 5-0 shutout win at USF while also netting his first career assist.
 
 
Notes From Around the League
 
Highlights From Around the League: SIUE topped No. 16 ranked Saint Louis on Sunday night to claim the Bronze Boot, the third time in the past four years the Cougars have earned the trophy ... It was the first home game of the season for the Cougars and first win for the team ... UTRGV exploded for five goals in Sunday's win at South Florida to remain undefeated on the season; the five-goal margin marked the largest road win over a Division I opponent in program history ... It also marked the most goals on the road against a DI opponent since 1993 (Oral Roberts) ... UTRGV has tallied more team points (7) through three matches than it did all of the 2025 season (5 points) and is off to its best start (2-0-1) since 2020-21 ... Lindenwood won 2-0 at Big East foe Butler, its first-ever win over the Bulldogs; the Lions are now 3-1-1 on the season ... The Lions rank seventh nationally in goals against average (0.40) and 13th in shutout percentage (60.0%) ... Lindenwood forward Luca Bartoni has five goals on the season and ranks sixth nationally in goals/game (1.0) ... HCU goalkeeper Harvey Heeps made a career-high eight saves in a loss to No. 3 SMU; he has 20 saves through five matches ... HCU has a Top 20 national strength of schedule; the team finished its West Coast road swing with a tie at CSUN and a win at Grand Canyon ... Southern Indiana allowed just three goals through its first three matches, its best start to a season since 2020.
 
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).