Game #4
Lindenwood (0-2-1, 0-0-0 OVC)
vs. Evansville (4-0-0, 0-0-0 MVC)
Match Information:
Date: Friday, Sept. 6, 2024
Location: St. Charles, Mo.
Venue: Hunter Stadium
First Kick: 7:00 p.m. CT 
All-Time Series: 0-1-1
Last Meeting: 2-2, Tie
Live Stats: Stats
Watch: ESPN+

Game #5
Lindenwood
vs. Westminster (Mo.) (0-2-0, 0-0-0 SLIAC)
Match Information:
Date: Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024
Location: St. Charles, Mo.
Venue: Hunter Stadium
First Kick: 3:00 p.m. CT 
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Live Stats: Stats
Watch: ESPN+

Matchup
Lindenwood men's soccer will start a two-match home stand on Friday when they host the Aces of Evansville and on Sunday when they face the Blue Jays of Westminster (Mo.). These games mark the last two home games until Sunday, October 6th against Eastern Illinois.

The Lions are slated to start Friday's match at 7:00 p.m. CT against Evansville. Lindenwood is currently 0-1-1 against the Aces including a 2-2 tie last year. Sunday's match has a start time of 3:00 p.m. CT against Westminster.

Last Match Recap
Men's soccer dropped their first away game of the season to Horizon League opponent Wright State by a final score of 4-1 last week. The Lions surrendered four unanswered goals in the match.
 
Lindenwood's offense delivered nine shots last Thursday including five on goal resulting in the lone goal. Wright State had only two more shots than LU (11) but 10 of those landed on goal resulting in four goals.
 
The Lions' offense started the night attacking including a shot on goal by Cameron Caldwell in the 13^th minute. Lindenwood struck first in the 20^th minute with freshman Anel Kafedzic's first goal of his career. He was assisted by Ethan Blake and Caldwell to put LU up 1-0.

Wright State's offense battled back scoring quickly to tie the game at 1-1 during the 29th minute. Wright State scored the second goal at the 37th minute to give WSU the 2-1 leading heading into the half.

Lindenwood's offense was held in check during the second half being limited to seven shots with three on goal. Wright State's goal keeper Joel Shaw had three of his four saves come in the second half. Enzo Gil had six saves on the evening in the loss. WSU scored their final two goals during the 73rd and 81st minutes.

Stats To Know

• Lindenwood is one of four schools in the Ohio Valley Conference to post a shutout so far this season, and the only team to do so against a Division I opponent (0-0 draw at Milwaukee)
• John Gates ranks sixth in the OVC with seven shots and has averaged 2.33 per game
• Lindenwood has three Lions in the top ten this season in shots on goal with Gates (5th - 1.33), Blake (T-7th - 1.00) and Kafedzic (T-7 - 1.00)
• Josh Francombe and Kafedzic are tied for the team lead in goals with one each
• Enzo Gil has made 11 saves so far (5th in the OVC) and ranks sixth in the OVC in save percentage with a 64.7%

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 starts a five match road stand next weekend starting on Friday, Sept. 13 at Utah Tech. For more information on Lindenwood men's soccer go to lindenwoodlions.com.