🆚 Southern Illinois-Edwardsville
📆 Sunday, October 20, 2024
⏰ 1 pm
🏟️ Sorrels Field – Houston, Texas
📈 LIVE STATS
📺 ESPN+
HOUSTON ---- Houston Christian University returns to Sorrels Field on Sunday for the final home match of the season, a "Senior Day" matinee against defending Ohio Valley Conference champion and current league leader Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. The Huskies will honor eight outgoing student-athletes with a short ceremony prior to the contest.
The Huskies come into the regular season home finale against the Cougars with a 6-5-3 overall mark and 4-1-1 ledger in OVC play after Thursday night's 1-1 draw with Lindenwood at Sorrels Field. The Huskies are 5-1-3 over their last nine after a 1-4 start to the season, and have conceded just three goals in their last seven outings.
On Thursday, Lindenwood jumped in front 1-0 during a first half defensive struggle, but the Huskies would would turn up the offensive pressure in the second half. HCU earned eight of its 10 corners in the match in the second stanza, and in the 75th minute
Morgan Worsfold-Gregg found himself in the right place at the right time to level things out and help HCU stay second in the OVC table.
It was the second goal in as many games for the freshman Worsfold-Gregg.
Ethan Giwa-McNeil and
Ryan Okerayi earned assists while the Huskies defense allowed just five shots, two on goal by Lindenwood, with
Alex Aitken allowing the one goal and making one save.
HCU continues to maintain a solid defense along with an opportunistic and balanced offense. The defensive effort limits opponents to under 10 shots per game, and just 15 goals through 14 games, while the offense boasts eleven different players to hit the back of the net this season and eight with at least two assists.
Giwa-McNeil leads the squad with five goals which is tied for fourth in the OVC, while his fourth assist on Thursday has him tied for sixth in the league. He is third in shots and first in shots per game in the league.
Ryan Okerayi has four goals and five assists, sixth and tied for fourth in the OVC respectively. Giwa-McNeil (14) and Okerayi (13) are third and sixth in the league in total points.
D'Alessandro Herrera chips in three goals and two assists, and the Huskies have three players,
Sam Zeeman,
Ricardo Garcia and Worsfold-Gregg, with two goals apiece.
Freddy Ferguson adds a goal and three assists.
Alex Aitken continues his solid play in the pipes as he recorded two more shutouts last weekend to give him four on the season. That is good for second in the OVC and pushed him into fourth place all-time at HCU with eight, one shy of third place. He had 11 saves last weekend weekend to push him over the 200 career saves mark, just the third player in school history to do so. He is now just 16 saves shy of former keeper and later HCU head coach Benny Agosto for second in school history.
Aitken ranks third in the OVC in saves, fourth in saves per game and second in save percentage. He is first in the league in goals allowed average at 0.92, one of just two keepers in the league posting a sub-one GAA on the campaign.
HCU and SIUE have met just once, a 3-1 victory for the Cougars in Edwardsville during last year's inaugural season of OVC play. SIUE got a goal in the third minute and never looked back, getting out to a 3-0 lead before
Ricardo Garcia's 74th minute goal prevented the clean sheet.
The Cougars are 7-3-3 overall on the season and come into Sunday's match unbeaten in conference action at 5-0-1 after Thursday night's 0-0 draw at Incarnate Word. SIUE features a strong three-headed offensive attack in senior forward Nacho Abeal, sophomore midfielder Yasha Schaerer.and senior forward Jacobo Sanfeliu. Abeal is fourth in the league in shots per game, tied for fifth in goals with five and eighth in points with 10. Schaerer is tied for fourth in the OVC in assists with five and tied for seventh in points with 11 on his three goals which ties him with Sanfeliu as well.
SIUE is led by one of the better goalkeepers in the league, Rob Gjelaj, who has been named OVC goalie of the week on five occasions this season. Gjelaj is first in the league in shutouts with seven, second in saves and saves per game and first in save percentage. He is second in the league behind
Alex Aitken in goals allowed average at 0.95 per.
The game on Sunday is the final on Fondren Road for the regular season and represents "Senior Day" as the Huskies honor their eight outgoing student-athletes.
Jaiden Ramsay-Kelly,
Tremain Simpson,
Sillah Suwaneh,
Kidus Assefa,
Sam Zeeman,
Ethan Giwa-McNeil,
Sander Brauer-Ersoy and
Kaone Kolagano will be honored with a short ceremony preceding the 1 pm kick-off. The game is also the first half of a doubleheader with the women, who will be hosting their own "Senior Day" when they welcome Southeastern Louisiana in Southland Conference action immediately following the men.
Following Sunday's match, HCU will take to the road for the final three matches to close out the conference slate and the regular season. The trio of games begins with a trip to the Alamo City on October 26 to face arch-rival University of the Incarnate Word.
#DawgsUp
