EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois – Second-seeded Houston Christian University used a smothering defense to stifle third-seeded Lindenwood University 2-0 in the first of two Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinals at Bob Guekler Field at Ralph Korte Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. The Huskies posted their eighth shutout of the season to charge into Saturday's championship match against top-seed, defending champion and host SIU-Edwardsville, which defeated Incarnate Word 1-0 in the other semifinal on Wednesday evening.
The two teams played with a very calculated approach in the first half with neither willing to give much ground. HCU managed several strong runs into the offensive end which would produce five shots and four corner kicks.
Alex Aitken corralled both shots on goal by the Lions over the first 45 minutes.
In the second frame, the two teams started out with the same mindset, but an early push by HCU resulted in a Lindenwood foul and subsequent free kick from 20 yards inside the midfield stripe.
Thomas Wyke would play a nice long ball to
Morgan Worsfold-Gregg just inside the left side of the box. His perfect volley found
Sam Zeeman on the near post for a strong header into the bottom corner past the dive of Lindenwood keeper Enzo Gil, giving HCU the one-nil advantage in the 52nd minute.
The Lions would earn a free kick of their own six minutes later on the edge of the box. Ethan Blake, the league's leading scorer would take a go, curling a strong bender around the wall but right into the waiting arms of Aitken to preserve HCU's lead.
Lindenwood would continue to step up the pace, but HCU continued to be everywhere defensively. LU would earn its first corner of the game just into the 66th minute, but the kick was overcooked for no harm. Moments later, the Lions Isaac Johnson put a dangerous ball into the box that was punched away by Aitken as he collided with Jozef Palushaj with right at 20 minutes to play.
HCU would continue to clamp down in the defensive third down the stretch. A long throw-in to the penalty box was headed away in the 74th minute by
Theo Butterworth. LU would earn yet another corner in the 76
th minute that was cleared out by the Huskies.
The Lions continued to throw bodies into the offensive end as the weather worsened down the stretch, but HCU was intent on controlling as much of the possession as possible. A run into the offensive end in the 79th minute reversed itself all the way back down the pitch to
Alex Aitken for another buildup that ultimately resulted in another corner.
Rio Pemberton's entry was batted straight back to
Ricardo Garcia, who's short chip found
Ethan Giwa-McNeil on the back post for the header that doubled HCU's advantage with 10 minutes remaining on the clock.
HCU would then really pack it in defensively. The protection of the final third in front of Aitken was led by several strong clearances and headers from what seemed to be multiple bodies around every ball as the Huskies put eyes on the finish line. The Lions would manage a couple of shots on goal, but each was gobbled up safely by Aitken.
Lindenwood would end the match outshooting the Huskies 13-9 overall and on goal as well, 8-2, however the two by HCU found the back of the net, resulting in the first win by either club in the series. Both previous matches during the past two regular seasons had ended in 1-1 draws and the win by HCU ends a fantastic season by the Lions, who finish 11-6-3 overall.
Aitken was brilliant in the cage once again, collecting eight saves to move into second place all-time in school history, passing former keeper and former HCU head coach Benny Agosto. It was his eighth clean sheet of the season, and the victory pushed HCU's overall mark to 8-6-5 on the season, the first campaign since 2015 with eight or more wins.
Zeeman, the OVC Defender of the Year, registered his third goal of the campaign, coming off an assist by the OVC Freshman of the Year
Morgan Worsfold-Gregg and
Thomas Wyke.
Ethan Giwa-McNeil's tally gave him the team lead with six with Garcia getting his first assist of the season.
The Huskies moves into Saturday's 6 pm Championship match, where it will now face top-seed and host SIUE on Saturday at 6 pm. The Cougars are the defending OVC champion and won the regular season for the second year in a row, with their only blemish in league play coming at the hands of the Huskies on October 20. HCU got a
Ryan Okerayi goal just under four minutes into the second half and a shutout from
Alex Aitken to capture a 1-0 victory that tied the two teams at the top of the table.
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