ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood Men's Soccer advanced to their first OVC Championship game on Wednesday night as they defeated SIUE by a score of 2-0 in the OVC Semifinals inside Hunter Stadium. The Lions scored two first half goals and pitched another shutout to advance to their first Conference championship game in the Division I era. 

Ethan Blake got the scoring started for the Lions early on in the first half at the 9th minute off a tremendous pass from Leandro Haesler just behind midfield. Blake retrieved the pass in stride, gathered his momentum, and fired a shot in between two Cougar defenders towards the bottom left corner of the goal. The shot hit off the inside of the post and into the back of the net as Lindenwood took the early 1-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the opening half. LU continued to stay on the attack for the rest of the half as they recorded eight more shots after the goal by Blake, with four of them being on target. The offensive pressure put on by the Lions eventually led to another goal as Maxime Legai intercepted a pass in SIUE's defensive half of the field in the 36th minute. Legai found Luca Bartoni down the left side of the field and Bartoni would do the rest. The OVC Forward of the Year gathered the ball with two defenders around him, moved to his right toward the middle of the field, and sent a shot across his body to the left. Bartoni's shot went sizzling by the Cougar goalkeeper as the Lions took a 2-0 lead into the locker room. Lindenwood finished the first half with 12 shots and four on goal, while the defense limited the Cougars to three first half shots and none of them being on target. 

In the second half, SIUE returned the favor and recorded 10 shots in the last 45 minutes of play compared to Lindenwood's three. Although the Cougars outshot the Lions in the second half, SIUE only had one shot on goal the entire game, which was handled by Gavin Roberts in the 52nd minute off a header from inside the box. The Lions finished the contest with 15 shots as seven of those were on goal. Luca Bartoni led the team in shots on goal with three, followed by Ethan Blake who had two.

"It's always a tough match with SIUE. We knew they were going to fight in the second half and they did a great job of putting us on our heels, but I'm glad we got a shutout and are moving on to the final." -Head coach Kris Bertsch after the 2-0 win over SIUE in the OVC Tournament Semifinals.

The defense recorded their 12th shutout of the season in the victory to advance to Saturday night's OVC Tournament championship game.The Lions will take on #2 Houston Christian at Hunter Stadium with kick off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.