The Lindenwood Lions men’s soccer used a strong defensive performance to secure a 2-1 win over the Western Illinois Leathernecks, sending Lions to the Ohio Valley Conference Semifinals. There, they will face a matchup against the #2 seeded Houston Christian Huskies. This marks the second straight season that the Lions will play in the OVC semifinals. The win was also the Lions’ 11th of the season, and the most by a Lindenwood men’s soccer team since 2016, when they finished the year with 13. The two goals were provided by a Western Illinois own goal, and Quinn Connolly’s first goal of the season, which was the difference in the game. Lindenwood had 13 shots on the afternoon with four landing on the net, while they held the Leathernecks to just eight shots, with six of them coming in the second half. Enzo Gil made two critical saves down the stretch in the second half to secure the win for Lindenwood.
Lindenwood struck first in the 12th minute of the match, when Cameron Caldwell sent a pass intended for Ethan Blake in the box, but instead was deflected by a Leatherneck defender into the back of the net giving Lindenwood an early 1-0 lead. Lindenwood beat Western Illinois by a score of 1-0 in their regular season matchup, as this game seemed like it would end with the same score, as neither team would find pay dirt the rest of the first half. Lindenwood held the Leathernecks to only two shots in the first half, as it was a very physical first half that saw Western Illinois commit eight separate fouls in the first half.
Coming out of the break, Lindenwood’s defense held strong until the 58th minute when, off a free kick after a foul by Josh Francombe, the Leathernecks sent the ball into the box where it ended up at the feet of Liam Gainey who finished into the back of the net for the equalizer, tying the match at 1-1. The goal was the first the Lions had allowed since their match on Oct. 20 against University of the Incarnate World. However, Lindenwood wouldn’t go down without a fight, as in the 70th minute Jozef Palushaj would weave his way around two Leatherneck defenders before finding Quinn Connolly open. Connolly struck it into the bottom left of the net, giving Lindenwood the 2-1 advantage.
Lindenwood’s defense then closed out the rest of the match, halting many Leatherneck attempts at evening the score in the final 10 minutes. At many points, all 11 Leatherneck players, including the goalie, were on Lindenwood’s side of the pitch but Lindenwood didn’t back down. Western Illinois had two scoring chances in the final six minutes, but the Lions blocked two shots to secure the lead and the win.
Lindenwood will now face Houston Christian University on Wednesday, Nov. 13 in the OVC semifinals, with a spot in the OVC championship on the line.
