Game #6
Lindenwood (2-2-1, 0-0-0 OVC)
at Utah Tech (1-3-1, 0-0-0 WAC)
Match Information:
Date: Friday, Sept. 13, 2024
Location: St. George, Utah
Venue: Greater Zion Stadium
First Kick: 8:00 p.m. CT 
All-Time Series: 0-1-0
Last Meeting: 3-0, Utah Tech
Live Stats: Stats
Watch: ESPN+

Game #7
Lindenwood
at Utah Valley (4-0-1, 0-0-0 WAC)
Match Information:
Date: Monday, Sept. 16, 2024
Location: Orem, Utah
Venue: Clyde Field
First Kick: 7:00 p.m. CT 
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Live Stats: Stats
Watch: ESPN+

Matchup
Lindenwood men's soccer starts their five game road trip with two matches in the state of Utah against Utah Tech and Utah Valley. The Lions are coming off their best stretch of the season with two straight wins at home including a come from behind win against Evansville.

Starting on Friday, Sept. 13th the Lions will face against the Trailblazers of Utah Tech in St. George, Utah at 8:00 p.m. CT. Lindenwood will then travel four hours north to take on Utah Valley in Orem, Utah on Monday, Sept. 16 at 7:00 p.m. CT.

Last Match Recap
Men's soccer finished off last weekend with a 5-0 victory over the Blue Jays of Westminster College (Mo.) at Hunter Stadium. The Lions went 2-0 at home last week including a 3-2 victory over Evansville on Friday.

Sunday's action saw Lindenwood post 32 shots which is the most in a game for LU since last season when the Lions had 38 against UHSP. A total of 15 different players had a shot on Sunday including six from Ethan Blake.

Lindenwood landed 14 of those shots on net including five resulting in a goal. Matteo Boasso led the way with two goals against the Blue Jays. Boasso had three of his five shots land on goal. Blake finished the game with one goal and two assists and was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Week.

The Lions spread the wealth against Westminster posting at least one assist on all five goals. Six different players registered an assist in the game. Starting goalkeeper Gavin Roberts made one save on Sunday as LU's defense limited Westminster to three total shots.

Boasso started the match off quickly with his first of two goals during the second minute of play. It took the Lions just 83 seconds to score. His goal was assisted by Ethan Blake and John Gates. Lindenwood took 17 shots in the first half, but only netted one goal.

Lindenwood's offense also struck quickly to open up the second half with a goal by Blake. He was assisted by Henrique Perestrelo in the 50th minute. Boasso followed that with his second goal during the 63rd minute as he was assisted by Josh Francombe and Luke Neely.

Anis Smajlovis scored his first goal in a Lindenwood uniform since the 2022 season during the 71st minute where he was assisted by Blake for his second assist of the afternoon.

Connor Lovell scored his first goal of the season to end the game for Lindenwood during the 81st minute of play to put the Lions up 5-0 at Hunter Stadium. Lovell's goal was assisted by Jozef Palushaj.

Stats To Know

• Matteo Boasso and Ethan Blake are tied for second in the OVC in points during a match with four each vs. Westminster
• Blake is tied for the OVC lead in shots in a single game this season with six vs. Westminster
• Blake is also one of five player with multiple assists in a game this season in the OVC
• Boasso is one of six OVC goal scorers with multiple goals in a single match
• Blake leads the OVC in assists this season with three and his tied for second in points with seven
• Lindenwood's 81 total shots and 40 on-goal shots leads the OVC
• Lindenwood is second in points this season with 10 goals and nine assists (29 points)

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.

Returning Lions
Lindenwood returns a lot of their roster from the 2023 season including four all-conference selections. Blake was the Lions leading goal scorer with six which ranked sixth in the OVC. He was the lone OVC First-Team Selection for the Lions. Blake led the team in points with 14 (six goals, two assists) and shots on goal with 13.

Noe Bijou, Matteo Boasso and Gil were also selected to the OVC Second-Team last season. Bijou was a staple for the Lions defense leading the team in minutes played with 1770 and helped the Lions posted the second lowest goals allowed in the OVC (1.20 GA). Boasso was second on the team in goals last season with four posting a total of nine points. He appeared in 17 matches making 15 starts.

Gil was the Lions primary goalie in 2023 making 18 starts in net allowing 1.138 goals per contest which was the fourth fewest. He made 50 saves while allowing just 20 goals with a save percentage of 71.4%. Bijou, Boasso and Blake also made the All-OVC Newcomer Team.

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
Lindenwood continues their road trip up north with a matchup against St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn on Sunday, Sept. 22. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.