⚽️ OHIO VALLEY TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
🏆 TOURNAMENT BRACKET

ST. CHARLES, Missouri – Ryan Okerayi hit the back of the net in the third minute and Houston Christian University saw that score through to the finish, claiming a hard-fought 1-0 win over Liberty University in the Ohio Valley Conference semifinals on Thursday night at Hunter Stadium. The gusty defensive effort following the early score propels the Huskies into the OVC Championship Final for the second straight season, where they will face host and top-seeded Lindenwood on Saturday evening.
 
The Huskies wasted no time getting on the front foot. A giveaway in the back was stolen by Cezar Onut, who quickly fed Ryan Okerayi just outside the left hash mark at the 13-yard line. Okerayi turned to his left and split two defenders before muscling his way inside the box to rifle a left-footed shot past Liberty keeper Tyler Beck with just 2:27 gone in the match.
 
HCU would put two more on target out of corner kicks, with Ricardo Garcia and Nico Kross getting good looks on goal. The Flames would put six shots up of their own with two on goal, both stopped by Alex Aitken to send the game to intermission with the Huskies still up one.
 
The second half started with the same tempo with both teams making strong runs. LU's Ben Carman put one on goal nearly seven minutes in that was put aside by Aitken. Ten minutes in, D'Alessandro Herrera broke through the middle, but his left-footed half volley attempt was high of the mark.
 
Okerayi would get another solid chance in the 72nd minute. Anis Harrar provided a solid sliding takeaway in the defensive end and the ball quickly found its way to Okerayi up the right flank. He would take the ball back to the middle and attempted to curl his shot through traffic but it was quickly scooped up by Tyler Beck standing in the middle of the pipes.
 
Moments later Ricardo Garcia found himself with a steal at midfield, took it twenty more yards and had go from 25 yards out straight away but to no avail.
 
The Flames had a couple of tremendous chances with just under a quarter hour remaining. In the 76th minute after a quick throw in, a deflected ball found Ty Conley about 14 yards out. His shot was deflected and glanced off the top of the cross bar and out for a corner. A couple of moments later, Dylan Swinehart's shot from the right side was gobbled up by Aitken.
 
Liberty kept up the pressure down the stretch, but the Huskies seemed to have bodies everywhere in their attempt to get across the finish line. Leo Conneh had two shots within a minute of each other with just over five minutes left, both knocked away by defenders before getting to the pipes. Another pair of attacks made their way into the middle of the field and dangerously into heavy traffic, but were also bounded away and a final attempt by Zach Lifferth from long range with just over two minutes left was blocked as well. 
 
The two teams didn't give an inch in the physical contest, as a total of 31 fouls were called. Liberty had 14 shots to HCU's 13 and had a 5-4 edge on target.
 
Okerayi had four shots, two on target, including the game-winning goal at the 2:27 mark. The score was Okerayi's ninth goal of the season, extending his personal single-season best as well as the most in a single-season for the Huskies since 2022. It was the fourth fastest goal in school history and the second time this season the Huskies have scored under three minutes into a match, as Joby Reid put one home at the 2:25 mark against UIW on October 24.

Ricardo Garcia had three shots and Cezar Onut contributed his third assist of the season on the give for the early goal by Okerayi.
 
Alex Aitken pitched a shutout, stopping five shots for his ninth clean sheet of the season, establishing a new single season best while extending the school single-season mark. His first save of the night was the 300th of his career, becoming the first keeper in school history to hit that plateau.
 
Zach Lifferth had four shots, one on goal and three others had two shots apiece for Liberty. Tyler Beck made four saves for the Flames, who end the 2025 campaign at 9-5-6.  
 
HCU improves to 11-5-2 on the season, the most victories in a season since the 1990 team won 14.
 
The Huskies advance to the OVC Championship match on Saturday evening. For the second straight season, HCU will face the top-seed on its home pitch for the title. HCU takes on Lindenwood, the regular season champion, as the Lions ousted two-time defending champion SIUE with a 2-0 victory in the day's first semifinal, assuring a new champion in the league's third season.
 
Kickoff at Hunter Stadium on Saturday evening is slated for 7:30 pm.

 
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