BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Houston Christian University earned a sweep of the final weekly honors of the regular season on Tuesday, as announced by the Ohio Valley Conference.
Jireh Oyebamiji was named Offensive Player of the Week,
Nana Obeng picked up Defensive Player of the Week honors and
Alex Aitken was tabbed Goalkeeper of the Week as the Huskies went 1-0-1 on the final weekend of OVC action.
The Huskies played to a 0-0 draw with Liberty University on Thursday night to clinch a spot in the OVC Tournament Field. HCU then exploded for a season-high five goals in a 5-1 "Senior Day" victory over Southern Indiana that coupled with Liberty's loss to University of the Incarnate Word, pushed the Huskies to the top of their pod and into the second seed in the postseason tournament for the second straight season.
Oyebamiji and Obeng picked up their first career honors after superb outings on Sunday.
A senior forward from London, England,
Jireh Oyebamiji came into the contest with one career goal. In his final outing on the home pitch, he would go on to collect his first-ever brace and first career game-winner, as he put home goals eight minutes into the second half and then 10 minutes later which gave HCU a commanding 3-0 lead over the Screaming Eagles.
Nana Obeng made his first start of the season on Sunday against Southern Indiana and played a season-high 81 minutes. The redshirt sophomore defender from Montreal, Quebec, Canada was adept in controlling play in the final third and worked up the field in strong build up leading to his first career assists. His push up the left side led to the opening goal by
D'Alessandro Herrera and his loft over the top provided path for Oyebamiji's first tally.
Alex Aitken earned his sixth weekly accolade of the 2025 season and ninth in his career overall. The Great Barford, England native made five saves in the Thursday draw with Liberty for his eighth clean sheet of the season, tying his personal single-season high set a year ago. He then shut down USI over 81 minutes to earn his 10th win over the season, notching two more saves to climb within one save of becoming the first keeper in school history with 300.
Aitken has started every game between the pipes for HCU and is now 10-5-2 on the season. He currently paces the league in shutouts with eight, goals against average at 0.77 and save percentage at .843, while ranking fourth in saves per game at 4.12 and total saves with 70, the fourth straight season to hit 70 or more.
HCU's win over Southern Indiana gave the Huskies their first 10-win season since 2008. HCU earned the top spot in the pod as well as a top-two seed and first round bye that goes along with it.
The top seed is regular season champion Lindenwood, who will host the tournament in St. Charles, Missouri after two straight seasons at two-time defending champion SIUE.
It is the second straight season the Huskies have been the second-seed in the tournament. HCU will play at 7 pm on Wednesday, November 12 against the winner of third-seeded Liberty and sixth-seeded Eastern Illinois.
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