🆚 University of the Incarnate Word
📆 Saturday, September 26, 2026
⏰ 7:00 pm CT
🏟️ Sorrels Field – Houston, Texas
📺 WATCH
📈 LIVE STATS
🗒️GAME NOTES
Houston Christian University opens Ohio Valley Conference action on Saturday night when it hosts longtime arch-rival University of the Incarnate Word. It is the fourth straight year that the two will open the OVC slate against each other with the "White Out" kick-off scheduled for 7 pm at Sorrels Field.
HCU is now 2-4-2 on the season under Head Coach
Ryan Pratt, in his 10th season at the helm. The Huskies are returning to action for the first time since last Saturday night, when they earned a hard-earned draw in Tulsa against Oral Roberts University in the final non-conference matchup of the regular season.
The two clubs spent a very defensive first 45 minutes, entering the intermission with no score on the board. ORU broke the ice just over seven minutes into the second frame, grabbing a one-nil lead on a score from Graham Condley assisted by Emre Aydin. That lead would only hold up for about eight minutes before the Huskies broke through.
HCU earned a corner and the entry from
Henrik Sakshaug found
Nico Kross for a header on the backside at the stroke of the hour mark to give the Huskies their equalizer. It was the first goal of the season for Kross, while Sakshaug had his second assist in as many games.
This is the fourth year of men's soccer in the Ohio Valley Conference, and the Huskies are coming off a second straight runner-up finish. HCU went 11-5-3 overall in 2025 and advanced to the OVC title match where it fell at Lindenwood to the Lions in a penalty kick shootout. It was the most victories in a single season since the 1990 team won 14. HCU is now 12-9-9 in three seasons in the OVC, including a 10-5-5 mark in league play over these past two runner-up seasons.
The 10-match OVC schedule starts across the league on Saturday, with all eight teams in action on Opening Night. There is one change to the league this year, as UTRGV replaces Liberty University. The addition of the Vaqueros gives the league a three-team footprint in the Lone Star state.
The eight teams are divided into two scheduling pods, with each team playing the other teams in its pod twice during the season, and teams in the other pod once. The top six seeds make the postseason field, with winner's of the two pods earning the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds and byes into the tournament semifinals. Seeds 3-6 are based on total points, regardless of scheduling pod.
Through eight matches, the Huskies are still searching to find their stride on offense.
Callum Niven and
Ryan Okerayi lead the club with two goals apiece while
Clarenns Sainrimat and
Nico Kross have a goal each for HCU. Okerayi's now has a 75th minute game-winner from the spot in the 1-0 win over UMass Lowell as well as his second-fastest ever goal, the Huskies lone tally coming just 2:09 into the loss against FGCU on Wednesday night. Sainrimat's goal was a game-winner at Grand Canyon.
The defense, beleaguered by injuries much of the non-conference season, has continued to fight through the tough early schedule, which has shown to be an offensive gauntlet of sorts.
Nico Kross, an All-OVC first-team selection in 2025, has held down the backline and earned Defensive Player of the Week honors two weeks ago.
Hans Leza returned to the pitch against FGCU after missing four games, and he is now just 99 minutes away from the 5,000 mark for his career, ranking eighth in minutes played in program history.
Harvey Heeps has been solid in his debut season in the pipes after taking over from OVC Goalkeeper of the Year
Alex Aitken. He has 34 saves over the first eight matches, including a career-high nine against both then No. 5 SMU and Grand Canyon. He has been named Keeper of the Week twice and currently ranks second in both saves and saves per game in the league.
The opening night of OVC action sees HCU take on archrival University of the Incarnate Word at Sorrels Field. It is the fourth straight season the two will square off in the first game of the conference slate.
The Huskies and Cardinals have met 23 times, the second most played series in HCU history. The two clubs first met in 1986, and from 2014-2022 were both members of the Western Athletic Conference before joining the OVC as affiliate members in 2023.
UIW currently holds a slim 10-9-4 edge in the all-time series. The two teams have played each other twice in each of the past five seasons, and will hook up for a second time this year in San Antonio on October 23. The two teams drew in the OVC opener in the Alamo City last year before HCU took a 2-1 win over the Cardinals in Houston on
Ben Thirkill's first career goal.
Kiki Lara returns for his seventh season at the helm of his alma mater, and has the Cardinals at 1-4-1 entering conference play.
Incarnate Word is paced on the offensive side by Diego Robles, a junior midfielder who has two goals after leading the club in scoring last year with five goals and two assists. Danny Elizalde, a grad midfielder, has two assists for UIW.
Two netminders have been platooning, each seeing three contests. Junior Victor Salmeron is 1-2-0 on the campaign with 14 saves against 43 shots in three starts, while junior Anders Hauge is 0-2-1 with nine saves against 25 shots in three starts.
Saturday night's game with Incarnate Word is a "White Out" and the Huskies will also welcome Houston Dynamo legend Brian Ching. The franchise leader in scoring, Ching will have a "Meet and Greet" autograph and photo session prior to and during the contest.
Following the tilt with UIW, HCU will hit the road for two conference matchups next week. The Huskies will kick off the month of October when they travel south to the valley to take on UTRGV on Thursday and the away stretch concludes with a trip to St. Charles, Missouri for a Sunday afternoon matchup with defending OVC champion Lindenwood.
#DawgsUp
