Game #17
Lindenwood (10-5-3, 6-2-2 OVC)
vs. Western Illinois (8-10-1, 3-7-0 OVC)
Match Information:
Date: Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024
Location: Edwardsville, Ill.
Venue: Ralph Korte Stadium
First Kick: 1:00 p.m. CT 
All-Time Series: 1-1-1
Last Meeting: W, 1-0
Live Stats: Stats
Watch: ESPN+

Matchup
Lindenwood men's soccer starts post-season competition this weekend as they take on Western Illinois in the Ohio Valley Conference quarterfinals in Edwardsville, Ill. The OVC Championships for men's soccer are hosted at Ralph Korte Stadium on the campus of SIUE.

The Lions secured the second best record in OVC play with a 6-2-2 record behind the OVC regular season champions SIUE Cougars. OVC rules have the post-season broken down into pods so Houston Christian will be the #2 seed with the Lions becoming the #3 seed.

Lindenwood ended the 2024 regular season with three straight wins including a 7-0 victory over Southern Indiana last weekend during senior day. Noe Bijou and Anis Smajlovic took home OVC Defender of the Week and Offensive Player of the Week for their efforts.

Despite their eight wins, the Leathernecks of Western Illinois only have three OVC victories this season. WIU lost three out of their last four matches, but did pick up a victory in their final game against Houston Christian by a final of 1-0.

Last Match Recap
Men's soccer blanked Southern Indiana by a final score of 7-0 on senior day at Hunter Stadium last Sunday. The Lions finished their 2024 regular season with 10 wins, their most since 2017. Their six conference wins are also their most in the Division I era and most since 2021.

Lindenwood capped off their 2024 regular season with seven goals, their most of the season and second most in the Division I era. The Lions have now scored 37 goals this season, the most by an LU team since 2018.

Kris Bertsch's squad was all offense on Sunday posting 21 total shots with 13 landing on net. Of the seven goals, Lindenwood had six different scorers and six different players with an assist. Southern Indiana was stifled on offense posting only four shots with none on-goal. Enzo Gil earned his seventh shutout this season marking the most by a Lindenwood goalie in a season since Fermin Hughes in 2012.

The first half saw Lindenwood start the scoring festivities early with a Jermaine Mentoor goal during the 5th minute after a Southern Indiana defender knocked the ball to him off a corner kick. Mentoor, a senior, scored his third goal of the season and is one of nine players to have multiple goals this year.

Now Bijou also scored his third goal of the season during the 35th minute of action. He was assisted by Henrique Perestrelo, both were honored on senior day. The Lions had seven of their 21 shots in the first half.

Lindenwood's offense ramped up the pace in the second half scoring five goals. John Gates posted his fourth of the season on a penalty kick after being fouled in the box during the 49th minute. Ethan Blake later missed his first penalty kick of the season and is now 3-4 on the year.

Mekhi Wright got in the scoring column for the year with his first goal during the 63rd minute. On the left-side of the box, Anis Smajlovic and Jens Haukeland made two passes that left Wright open for the shot. Snajlovic would then score just over one minute later and was assisted by Blake.

Haukeland was able to score his second goal of the season during the 77th minute and was assisted by Jozef Palushaj. Smajlovic scored his second and final goal of the game during the 89th minute and was assisted by Luke Neely and Palushaj. The Lions have now scored over five goal three times this season with all of them coming inside Hunter Stadium.

Stats To Know

• Lindenwood averages 2.056 goals per game, the second best in the OVC
• They are just one of five teams in the OVC to have a positive scoring margin (0.89), Lindenwood's offense also has the second most corner kicks (96)
• Lindenwood's 251 shots and 124 shots on goal are both the top mark in the OVC, they average 6.89 shots on goal per match
• Blake is first in points so far this season in the OVC with 25 averaging 1.39 per game (second best)
• Gates also ranks fourth in points this season with 15 averaging 0.83 per game
• Blake also has nine assists this season which is the top mark in the conference, Gates is second with seven and Jozef Palushaj is seventh with four
• Blake is second in shots on goal with 19 followed by Gates with 18
• Gil's seven shutouts this season are the second most in the OVC, he has a save percentage of .737
• Lindenwood has scored two game winning goals in the final two minutes of the season: Ethan Blake vs. Evansville and Jordan Matthews vs. Utah Tech

OVC Preseason Standings
The OVC released their yearly preseason standings earlier this offseason which saw Lindenwood finish fourth in the rankings. Defending OVC Champions SIUE was selected to win the conference after going 16-1-3 in 2023. OVC-affiliate members Liberty and Incarnate Word rounded out the top three.

Gates was tabbed as an OVC Player to Watch for the Lions in his first season in St. Charles. The Loyola Chicago transfer played three seasons for the Ramblers appearing in 48 matches with 39 starts.

He is originally from St. Louis, Mo. where he attended the John Burroughs School. Gates has seven career goals and 12 assists. He made the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman team in 2021.

Head Coach: Kris Bertsch
Bertsch enters his second season at the helm of Lindenwood men's soccer during the fall of 2024. He helped the Lions immediately improve from their first Division I season as he led them to a 7-7-6 record, a four match win improvement from the previous season.

Bertsch posted a 3-3-4 record in Ohio Valley Conference matches, good for fourth in the OVC. This marked the inaugural season for OVC men's soccer in 2023. Heading into the OVC quarterfinals match, Bertsch's squad defeated Chicago State 2-0 to advance to the semifinals before losing to eventual OVC champions SIUE.

During the season, Lindenwood was ranked four times in the United Soccer Coaches Top 10 Poll for the North Region. Through weeks 7-11, the Lions were ranked has high has nine. This also marked the first ever ranking for the program in the USC North Region Poll.

Up Next
The winner of the #3 vs. #6 matchup with take on #2 Christian Houston on Wednesday, Nov. 13th at 3:00 p.m. CT. For more information on the OVC Tournament follow this link. For more information on Lindenwood men's soccer go to lindenwoodlions.com.