Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois will play their final Ohio Valley Conference men's soccer matches of the regular season this week, with the field for the 2026 OVC Men's Soccer Championship set to be decided Sunday, according to the conference's weekly report.

The top six teams in the league will advance to the tournament, to be held in St. Charles, Missouri, from November 8-14. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds earn byes to the semifinals.

This week's area schedule

  • Thursday, October 29: Southern Indiana at Eastern Illinois, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+); SIUE at Western Illinois, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+); UIW at UTRGV, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+); Lindenwood at HCU, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+).
  • Sunday, November 1: Lindenwood at UIW, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN+); Eastern Illinois at SIUE, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+); UTRGV at HCU, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+); Western Illinois at Southern Indiana, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

Players of the Week

HCU junior forward Clarenns Sainrimat, of Marcoussis, France, was named Offensive Player of the Week after scoring three goals on three shots in two matches as the Huskies went 1-0-1 on the road. He scored the equalizing goal in the 73rd minute of a 2-2 draw at UTRGV and added two goals in a 5-2 win at UIW.

Lindenwood junior defender Milton Kapaya, of Lyon, France, earned Defensive Player of the Week. He helped a defense that allowed only one goal in a win over Eastern Illinois and added an assist as the Lions improved to 4-1-3 in OVC play.

UTRGV sophomore goalkeeper Conrad Knight, of London, England, was named Goalkeeper of the Week after making seven saves over two matches, including a clean sheet against Western Illinois to help the Vaqueros to their first home victory of the season.

Around the league

SIUE holds a one-point lead over Lindenwood in the standings and can clinch a bye to the semifinals with one point this week. The report notes SIUE was the No. 1 seed and won tournament titles in 2023 and 2024.

Lindenwood goalkeeper Quinn Closson is one clean sheet away from breaking the school's Division I-era career record; he is currently tied for first with 12.

UTRGV won its first home match since 2024 in topping Western Illinois on Saturday. The report says the last time the program went undefeated at home was in 1997. HCU scored a season-high five goals Sunday at UIW, four in the second half, to win there for the first time since 2018.

The report also notes Eastern Illinois recorded its first win over SIUE since 1996 with a 1-0 victory on October 4, snapping a 10-game losing streak in the series.

HCU's Ryan Okerayi was named to the United Soccer Coaches' NCAA Division I Men's Players to Watch list, becoming the first player in HCU program history to be recognized on such a list.

About the league

This marks the fourth season of OVC men's soccer, which was announced as the league's 19th sport in March 2023. Five OVC institutions field men's soccer teams: Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood, SIUE, Southern Indiana and Western Illinois. Houston Christian (HCU), Incarnate Word (UIW) and UTRGV are affiliate members, giving the conference eight programs. UTRGV, located in Edinburg, Texas, is in its first OVC season.

Conference statistical leaders are updated nightly after games and are available in PDF and sortable formats on the OVC website.

Source: the original release