Game #9
Lindenwood (3-3-2, 0-0-0 OVC)
at Eastern Illinois (1-4-2, 0-0-0 OVC)
Match Information:
Date: Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023
Location: Charleston, Ill.
Venue: Lakeside Field
First Kick: 4:00 p.m. CT
All-Time Series: 1-0, Lindenwood
Last Meeting: 2-1, Lindenwood (10/5/2022)
Live Stats: Stats
Live Video: ESPN+

Matchup
Lindenwood men's soccer starts Ohio Valley Conference play as they head to Charleston, Ill. to play Eastern Illinois in their first ever Ohio Valley Conference men's soccer match. The Lions and Panthers previously were in the Summit League before the OVC's inaugural season.

Last week saw the Lions set a program record during their NCAA era as they scored a program high eight goals in a win against the University Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis. LU saw six different goal scorers in the win.

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

Previous Match Recap
Lindenwood men's soccer defeated the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis by a final score of 8-0. The Lions set a NCAA-era program record with eight goals scored in a single match beating the previous record seven vs. Southwest Baptist in 2019.

LU's offense started off fast with five shots in the first five minutes of action. Cole Hutson scored the first of his three goals in the match during the seventh minute of play with assists from Luke Neely and Mekhi Wright.

The Lions were held to just one goal in the first 45 minutes of action as UHSP's goalie Jack Wolfe posted eight saves during that time. Lindenwood put up 22 shots in the first half to just two by the Eutectics.

The offense kept the pressure on in the second half scoring seven of their eight goals during the final 45 minutes of play. Hutson scored his second goal in the bottom center of the net in just the second minute of action coming out of the break. Jens Haukeland and Josh Francombe assisted on the goal.

Jermaine Mentoor entered the scoring frenzy in the 52nd minute of play with another goal to put the Lions up 3-0 early in the second half. Haukeland picked up his second assist of the night on that play.

Seven minutes after Mentoor's goal, Josh Francombe scored his first goal of the season in the bottom right of the net from Wright (2) to put the Lions up four. Hutson posted his third and final goal in the 65th minute with the help of Haukeland's third assist.

After posting three assists, Haukeland scored one of his own to put Lindenwood up 7-0 in the 70th minute. He was assisted by Henrique Perestrelo and Alex Imig. Copper Wilson (81st minute, assisted by Parker Smith) and Ethan Blake (84th minute, assisted by Imig and Jonah Williams) scored their first goals of the season to put the finishing touches on their 8-0 victory.

The Lions did not give up a shot in the second half. LU also had 14 corner kicks to just two by the Eutectics. Wolfe from UHSP had 12 saves in the loss. LU has now won two straight games to improve to 3-3-2.

Player Of The Week
Cole Hutson was named the Ohio Valley Conference's Offensive Player of the Week after his hat trick performance against UHSP last week. Hutson is the only OVC player this season to have three goals in a match.

Hutson currently leads the team in goals made with four and has 12 shots with seven of the on goal. With that weekly award, he becomes the first Lion to earn that achievement.

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 return to Hunter Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 1:00 p.m. when they host Southern Indiana for their first home OVC match of the season. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.