Game #11
Lindenwood (4-4-2, 1-1-0 OVC)
at SIUE (7-0-2, 2-0-0 OVC)
Match Information:
Date: Thursday, Oct. 4, 2023
Location: Edwardsville, Ill.
Venue: Ralph Korte Stadium
First Kick: 7:30 p.m. CT
All-Time Series: 0-1-0, SIUE
Last Meeting: L,0-2, SIUE (09/02/2022)
Live Stats: Stats
Live Video: ESPN+

Matchup
Lindenwood men's soccer goes on the road for their first away Ohio Valley Conference match as they take on conference leader SIUE in Edwardsville, Ill. on Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. Lindenwood is looking for their first ever win against the Cougars.

Last week, Lindenwood went 1-1 during the first week of OVC play including a home win against USI. The Lions lost a hard fought match at Eastern Illinois to start the week by a score of 2-1 before coming home and defeating the Screaming Eagles by a score of 1-0.

SIUE has stayed undefeated through nine matches this season with a 7-0-2 record. The Cougars have started off with a 2-0 OVC record with wins over Eastern Illinois and Southern Indiana. SIUE as only two ties against Kansas City and Bradley.

The Ohio Valley Conference began their inaugural season of men's soccer as Lindenwood was picked to finish fourth out of eight teams. SIUE was picked to finish in second.

Previous Match Recap
Lindenwood men's soccer earned their first win in Ohio Valley Conference play as the Lions take down familiar foe Southern Indiana by a final score of 1-0 at Hunter Stadium.

Lions continued their aggressive style on offense in the first half with 11 total shots including four on goal. Four different Lindenwood players got two shots off in the first half including goal-scorer Jens Haukeland.

With under 20 seconds remaining in the first half, Haukeland caught a ricochet off of USI goalie Andrew Klott's glove then headed the ball into the right side of the net for his second goal of the season. He is now tied with Cole Hutson for the most points by a Lion this season (eight).

Lindenwood goalie Enzo Gil made his lone save in the first half after Southern Indiana's Sam Benoist shot a ball towards the right side of the net, but was deflected out of bounds by Gil. USI's goalie had three saves in the first 45 minutes.

The defense was the star of the second half as Lindenwood only allowed one shot the last 45 minutes of play. Defenders Cameron Caldwell, Noe Bijou and Luke Neely played all 90 minutes for the Lions on defense.

The 1-0 final marked the fourth shutout of the season for Lindenwood as they captured their fourth win of the season and their first in OVC play. The Lions had 18 shots on the day to just three by the Screaming Eagles.

OVC Top Ten Rankings
Hutson makes two appearances in the top ten on the OVC leaderboard. With his seven shots on goal (0.88 SOG/G) he currently ranks ninth in the conference. His four goals also ranks fourth in the OVC. He is the only OVC player to have a hat trick this season.

The Lions leading passer Jens Haukeland also cracks the top ten in assists with four. He currently is number three in the OVC in assists with an average of .444 per game. Haukeland and Hutson are tied for seventh in points with eight.

Goalie Enzo Gil has given up the second fewest goals on the season in the OVC with nine. He also ranks fifth in saves with 13. His three shutouts also ranks second in the conference.

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
The Lions will continue their OVC road trip on Sunday as they take on affiliate-member Chicago State at 3:00 p.m. The game will be stream on Chicago State's YouTube channel. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.