Game #13
Lindenwood (5-4-4, 2-1-2 OVC)
vs. Incarnate Word (5-5-3, 3-1-1 OVC)
Match Information:
Date: Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023
Location: St. Charles, Mo.
Venue: Hunter Stadium
First Kick: 1:00 p.m. CT
All-Time Series: First meeting
Last Meeting: First meeting
Live Stats: Stats
Live Video: ESPN+

Matchup
Lindenwood men's soccer continues their home stretch this Sunday as they host OVC-affiliate member Incarnate Word starting at 1:00 p.m. at Hunter Stadium. The Lions are coming off at tie at home last Thursday against Houston Christian.

Incarnate Word suffered their first Ohio Valley Conference loss of the season this Thursday against current OVC first place team SIUE 3-0. Before that, IWU won three straight conference games.

The Ohio Valley Conference began their inaugural season of men's soccer as Lindenwood was picked to finish fourth out of eight teams. Incarnate Word finished in fifth place in the voting.

Previous Match Recap
Lindenwood men's soccer picked up its fourth draw of the season with a 1-1 tie against the Huskies of Houston Christian at Hunter Stadium on Thursday evening. The Lions pick up their eighth point in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.

Cooper Wilson powered the Lindenwood offense early on in the match with his third goal of the season, good for second on the team. In the fourth minute of play, Wilson secured a cross from a corner kick from Jens Haukeland which resulted in a header. Haukeland leads the team this season with five assists.

The Lions' offense only had four shots in the first 45 minutes of action with two of them coming on goal. Lindenwood also had four corner kicks in the first half and limited HCU to just one which resulted in a goal.

During the 18th minute, Houston Christian's Kharrel Medza scored in the center of the net after a header assist by D'Alessandro Herrera. It was one of three shots on goal the Huskies had in the first half. 

Both defenses stood strong in the second half with no goals scored and only six total shots taken, three by each team. Goalkeeper Enzo Gil finished the match with four saves against the Huskie offense. Defenders Noe Bijou, Luke Neely and Matty Wackerfuss played all 90 minutes.

OVC Top Ten Rankings
Cole Huston returns to the top ten in goals this season, ranking eighth in the conference with four total goals this season. He also is still the only player this season with a hat trick (picked up three goals against UHSP). His two game winning goals also rank tied for second.

Jens Haukeland also stays in the top ten this week in assists ranking fourth with five this season. Haukeland picked up an assist this week against HCU. Hutson's eight points this season puts in at the seven position in the overall rankings.

Goalie Enzo Gil has allowed the third least goals this season (12) in the OVC. His 1.081 goal average also ranks third in the OVC. Gil also has four solo shutouts this season, good for second in the conference. He has average 2.08 saves per game this year.

Head Coach: Kris Bertsch
Bertsch enters his first season as the head coach of Lindenwood men's soccer during the 2023 fall season. He comes to Lindenwood after spending five seasons at Saint Louis University as the top assistant coach where he helped guide the Billikens to an impressive 53-22-14 record.  Individually, Bertsch has been recognized as one of the Top Assistant Coaches in the country four different times. 

Saint Louis captured back-to-back Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season and tournament titles in 2021 and 2022, resulting in two-straight NCAA Men's Soccer Championship appearances.  In 2022, Bertsch and the SLU staff earned the honor as the NCAA Division I Southeast Region Staff of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches.

Up Next
Lindenwood hits the road for their second to final time next week as they head over to Virginia to take on Liberty at 6:00 p.m. CT. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.