🆚 University of the Incarnate Word
📆 Sunday, October 25, 2026
⏰ 6 pm CT
🏟️ Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium – San Antonio, Texas
📺
WATCH
📈 LIVE STATS
🗒️GAME NOTES
Houston Christian University closes out the longest road stretch of the season as it travels to San Antonio to take on long-time rival University of the Incarnate Word on Sunday. Kick-off from Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium in the Alamo City is set for 6 pm
Head Coach
Ryan Pratt, now in his 10th season at the helm has the Huskies at 4-6-5 overall and 2-2-3 in conference play after earning a hard-fought road point with a 2-2 draw down in the valley on Wednesday against UTRGV. The game was the completion of the suspended match of October 1
Nearly three weeks after the original kick-off, the two teams resumed action with 23:18 left to play in the first half and the Vaqueros already ahead one-nil on a goal by Elias Taj just over nine minutes into the contest. The hosts missed an opportunity in the 31st minute to double their lead but a penalty kick chance was errant leaving the lead at just one.
In the 44th minute, the Huskies went quick out of a foul and raced upfield, where
Jess Degenaers laid off a pass at the top of the box for a one-timer from
Ricardo Garcia, knotting the game at one-apiece with just a minute and a half left before intermission.
UTRGV would strike quickly in the second half on a tally from Sammy Jadid at the 51:15 mark of the game. That lead would stand for just over 21 minutes until the Huskies earned a free kick from a short corner position just outside the area on the left hash even with the top of the box.
The entry in got clattered off the head of
Hans Leza and an attempted shot by
Ryan Okerayi landed on the outstretched leg of
Clarenns Sainrimat, who toed home the leveler with 17:19 to play to make the count two-all.
The Huskies got three more solid looks down the stretch, the final from Degenaers, who shot was saved by Conrad Knight just into the 86th minute. HCU warded off two late chances from UTRGV to hold on for the road point and move to 4-6-5 overall and 2-2-3 in conference action.
Ricardo Garcia picked up his first goal of the season for the Huskies and
Clarenns Sainrimat added his second.
Jess Degenaers recorded his second assist of the campaign while
Harvey Heeps made three stops in goal to preserve the tie.
This Huskies, coming off a back-to-back runner-up finishes in the league, currently sit in fifth place in the league with nine points, one point out of fourth and just four points off the league leaders. Defending champion Lindenwood dropped from the top spot in the table after falling to Southern Indiana on Sunday, allowing SIUE and UIW to jump to the head of the line, each with 13 points.
Through 15 matches,
Ryan Okerayi leads the club with four goals and five assists. He is tied for first in the conference in assists, is eighth in goals and ranks third in total points. His assist versus WIU moved him into a tie for sixth place all-time in that category and his goal against Eastern Illinios last Sunday was the 25th of his career. He is one of just seven players in school history with 20 or more goals.
Marcos Moore is second on the club in goals with three while
Callum Niven, Aiden Lopez and
Clarenns Sainrimat each have a pair of goals.
Senior defender
Hans Leza, a mainstay on the backline for HCU for four seasons, passed the 5,000 minutes-played mark for his career and now sits in third place all-time with 5,520 minutes. His start against EIU moved him into the Top 10 in games played and games started, now with 66 and 64 respectively.
Harvey Heeps has been solid in his debut season in the pipes after taking over from OVC Goalkeeper of the Year
Alex Aitken. The redshirt freshman has 53 saves through 15 matches, including a career-high nine against then No. 5 and now No. 1 SMU. He has been named Keeper of the Week twice and has three clean sheets on the season. He ranks first in the OVC in saves (53), second in saves per game (3.53) and third in goals against (1.68) and save percentage (.679).
HCU heads to the Alamo City looking to cool off arguably the hottest team in the league in UIW. The two schools, separated by 198 miles, are no strangers as the series between the long-time rivals dates all the way back to 1986. This is the second time the schools have been conference foes as HCU and UIW were both members of the Western Athletic Conference from 2014-22 before each joined the OVC as affiliate members in the inaugural OVC soccer season of 2023.
The series is now knotted at 10-10-4 overall, with Sunday being the second meeting of the campaign. HCU took the September 26 conference opener 2-1 in Houston, building a 2-0 lead on goals from
Ryan Okerayi and
Marcos Moore before Juan Monreal's nifty score drew the Cardinals to within one with 18 to play.
Kiki Lara is in his seventh season at the helm of his alma mater. His Cardinals have won three straight and are unbeaten in its last five since dropping the first two conference matches of the season on the road to HCU and defending champion Lindenwood. UIW are 5-6-2 overall and 4-2-1 in league play and entered the weekend in a dead heat with SIUE atop the league table prior to Friday and Saturday action.
The recent strong run of form for UIW coincides with the personal heater of junior forward Diego Robles. After leading UIW in goals last seaosn with five, the hometown junior forward has scored nine thus far in 2026, seven of which have come over the last five matches. He had a hat trick in the win over Southern Indiana on October 11, and leads the OVC in goals, goals per game and points per game. He averages 2.62 shots and is second in the league in total points. Robles has been selected the OVC Player of the Week for the last two weeks.
Junior keeper Victor Salmeron was the Goalkeeper of the Week last week after leading UIW to two wins, which included his first clean sheet of the campaign at Western Illinois. He has made 10 starts with 49 saves, and has allowed just five goals in his last five outings. He leads the league in saves per game at 4.9 a contest.
Following the match with UIW, the Huskies will return home for their final two matches of the regular season, still looking to secure a spot in the OVC Tournament. HCU will host Lindenwood on Thursday, October 29 before ending the season with a "Senior Day" matinee against UTRGV on November 1.
#DawgsUp
