🆚 University of Southern Indiana
📆 Thursday, October 2, 2025
⏰ 7 pm CT
🏟️ Strassweg Field – Evansville, Indiana
📈 LIVE STATS
📺 ESPN+
Houston Christian University begins the home stretch of its season-long five-match road stretch with a pair of OVC matches. The weekend begins on Thursday night with a tilt at University of Southern Indiana on Thursday night at Strassweg Field in Evansville. Kick-off is slated for 7 pm.
The Huskies have been off since last Friday night when they opened the conference slate with an exciting 1-1 draw with long-time rival University of the Incarnate Word at Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium in San Antonio. The two rivals went toe-to-toe from start to finish in yet another intense and physical match in the series, the fourth straight outing in the Alamo City to end up level.
UIW jumped ahead 1-0 with just over 30 minutes gone. In the 58th minute
Ron Pressler took a ball on the right side, made a turn and carried it to the byline. A quick stop and entry into the middle of the box found
D'Alessandro Herrera, who made one soft touch, turned and fired in a shot past a sprawling De La Torre for the equalizer.
The two teams weren't willing to settle for the tie, continuing to pepper the pipes with quality chances. UIW came up empty twice in the final six, with the second stop coming in the final minute when a shot at nearly point blank range was batted aside by Aitken. The Huskies got one final crack at the game-winner as well, as UIW was whistled for a foul and carded just about 25 yards away from goal with eight seconds to play.
Cezar Onut put a blast on target that caromed off the left post and away.
Aitken made six saves for the Huskies to preserve an important road point for HCU.
D'Alessandro Herrera scored his second goal of the season and first since the opener at Pacific while
Ron Pressler added his second assist of the year.
Ryan Okerayi leads the club with 10 points coming on a team-high five goals, having put 11 of his 17 total shots on goal thus far for a .647 SOG%. He is fifth in the OVC in points and is tied for the league lead in goals scored. The Huskies have had seven players hit the back of the net this season and boast a .500% SOG clip for the season as a team.
With his game-winner against UTRGV, Okerayi now has two this season, both coming after 80 minutes of play and both via penalty. Earlier this season, the junior from Houston scored in the 80th minute vs. Gonzaga on August 31 for a 1-0 HCU win before the 88th minute clincher against UTRGV. He now sits in a tie for sixth-place all-time with five career game-winners with three of those coming in the 75
th minute or later.
HCU has two players in the top 10 for shots per game in
Ryan Okerayi and
D'Alessandro Herrera at two or more.
Joby Reid is also tied for eighth in the OVC in assists with three, while
Nico Kross,
Ben Thirkill and now Pressler all sit tied in tenth with a pair apiece.
Aitken has four clean sheets and is tied for second in the league. He is also second in the league in goals allowed average at 0.63, one of three goalkeepers in the OVC sitting at a sub-one GAA. The senior from Great Barford, England continues to climb the career leaderboards at HCU, with the victory over UTRGV tying him for first all-time in victories at 21 with
Christopher Dodd. He is part of a trio of keepers with over 20 wins, and is also one of just three to amass over 200 saves, as he now the all-time leader with 261.
The Huskies and Eagles have met just twice all-time. The two played to a 1-1 draw in Houston in the inaugural OVC season of 2023 before HCU claimed a 2-0 victory in last year's contest in Evansville. The Huskies prevailed after getting a first-half goal from
D'Alessandro Herrera and a second half tally from
Ethan Giwa-McNeil.
USI is currently 1-7 overall and 0-1-0 in OVC action after falling to Liberty in their opener 6-1. The Screaming Eagles are led by Mat Santoro, now in his 17th season at the helm. Four players have hit the scoresheet for USI, with David Davilla, Tony Murphy, Pablo Juan and Kristopher Martial each scoring once.
Davilla, a sophomore forward, is USI's top returning offensive player, having scored three goals in 2024 while being named to the OVC All-Newcomer squad. The Eagles have employed three keepers this season, with freshman Jacob English leading the way with six starts and 29 saves.
The road stretch finally concludes on Sunday night in Lynchburgh, Virginia when the Huskies link up with Liberty. HCU returns to the friendly confines of Sorrels Field on October 9 when it hosts Eastern Illinois University at 7 pm.
#DawgsUp
