2025 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's soccer team

2025 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's soccer
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Record6-11-2 (4-4-2 OVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Jordan Grant
  • Drew Romig
  • Alsadiq Hasan
Home stadiumRalph Korte Stadium
Capacity, 4,000
2025 Ohio Valley Conference men's soccer standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Lindenwood †‡ 6 2 2 14 3 4
Houston Christian 5 3 2 11 5 3
Liberty 4 2 4 9 5 6
SIU Edwardsville 4 4 2 6 11 2
Western Illinois 3 3 4 5 11 4
Eastern Illinois 3 4 3 4 9 4
Southern Indiana 1 4 5 2 10 5
Incarnate Word 1 5 4 5 7 6
  • † – Conference champion
    ‡ – 2025 Ohio Valley tournament champion
    + – At-large invitation to the 2025 NCAA tournament
As of December 6, 2025
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: OVC

The 2025 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's soccer team represented Southern Illinois University Edwardsville during the 2025 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, the school's 59th season. The Cougars are coached by Cale Wassermann. The team plays its home games on Bob Guelker Field at the Ralph Korte Stadium as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).

Preseason

The Cougars returned fourteen players from 2024 as well as three redshirts. They were joined by six freshmen and five transfers from other schools.[1] None of the Cougars' top seven scorers from 2024 return, but most of the defenders do.[2]

Following consecutive Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament championships, SIUE men's soccer was voted the favorites to do it again. The Cougars received 14 of a possible 16 first-place votes and 98 total points in the preseason poll. The top six teams in league play advance to the OVC Championship tournament, with the first and second seeds receiving byes straight through to the semifinal round, and the tournament winner earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. [3]

2025 OVC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll

  • 1. SIUE (14 first-place votes) - 98 points
  • 2. HCU (2) - 69
  • 3. Lindenwood - 67
  • 4. Liberty - 64
  • 5. UIW - 55
  • 6. Western Illinois - 39
  • 7. Eastern Illinois - 38
  • 8. Southern Indiana - 18

Regular season

The regular season began on August 21, 2025 following three exhibition games.

The seven game non-conference schedule included three teams--- 21st ranked Denver, 18th ranked Saint Louis, and Kansas City who ended-the season ranked #21-- that were, like the Cougars, in last season's NCAA tournament. All three defeated SIUE, with Saint Louis regaining possession of the Bronze Boot.

Only Evan Howard, a transfer from Coastal Carolina, was able to help replacing the loss of last season's scoring, and the Cougars offense suffered. Only the defense kept the season from being a total disaster. Of the seven nonconfernce opponents, SIUE defeated only Air Force, who finished near the bottom of the NCAA's RPI ratings at nmber 206 of 213 teams.

After starting the OVC schedule with two loses, the Cougars put together a five game streak with three wins and two draws. However, they then lost two games before ending the season on a winning note.

Th final regular season record was a disappointing 5-10-2 with an RPI rating of 167.

Postseason

SIUE entered the 2025 Ohio Valley Men's Soccer Championship with its two leading scorers, Evan Howard (8 goals, 3 assists) and Carles Zomeno (2 & 2) out with injuries. Their quarterfinals match was versus Western Illinois, who had defeated the Cougars twice. Led by two grad students, captain defender Wes Gibson and midfielder Ethan Hackenberg, the team put on its best display of both offense and defence for he season. In a contest that could only be described as "chippy", there were thirtyone (31) fouls, with seven yellow cards issued, but Hackenberg scored his only twom goals of the season, and SIUE prevsailed 2-0. [4]

The OVC Championship semifinal was fourth seeded SIUE versus top-seeded reular season champion Lindenwood on its home field. The Lions fairly well dominated the Cougars during the first half, getting off twelve shots (6 on goal) to the Cougars' four (0), and the home teame scored twice. In the second half, with Carles Zomeno back on the field, the Cougars from the quarterfinals returned, monopolizing the offense and playing solid defense, outshooting the Lions 10 to three. However, the home squad packed in its defnse and refused to let the visitors scored. The Cougars finish their season with a 6-11-2 record. Lindenwood, the regular season champion is 14-2-3 and will play in Saturday night's OVC Championship game. [5] Through the season, the Cougars lost six games to five schools that made the NCAA Championship tournament.

Honors

Two days ahead of the start of the 2025 OVC Championship in St. Charles, Missouri, SIUE's defender Wes Gibson, midfielder Carles Zomeno, and forward Evan Howard were named to the ALL-OVC First Team. Howard and goalkeeper Noah Scheidweiler were named to the OVC All-Newcomer Team. [6]

Following Lindenwood's defeat of Houston Chriistian in the OVC Championship game, the OVC All-Tournament Team was announced. Cougar midfielders grad student Ethan Hackenberg and freshman Dan Murray were named to the eleven member squad. [7]

Roster

Source=[1][8]

Buff background indicates returning players from 2023. Pink background indicates players "redshirted" in 2023.

# Name Nationality Height Weight Class Hometown High School Academy/Club Transfer from
Goalkeepers
1 Noah Scheidweiler 6'2" 165 Freshman Gasperich, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg FC Swift Hesperange
29 Ethan Kornas 5'11" 150 Redshirt Juunior Huntley, Illinois Huntley Eclipse Select SC
30 Patrick O'Day 6'2" 180 RedshirtJunior O'Fallon, Missouri Liberty Lewis and Clark
Defenders
3 Elliott Forestier 5'11" 175 Senior Sydney, Australia Sydney Secondary College Sydney Olympic FC Oklahoma Christian
4 Wesley Gibson* 6'1" 180 Graduate Student Morton, Illinois Morton Central Illinois United
5 Archie McDonnell 6'4" 187 Redshirt Sophomore Leeds, England St Mary's Menston UFCA and Horsforth St. Margaret's
12 Enrique Ezquerro 6'1" 177 Senior Pradejon, Spain Valle del Cidacos Pradejon WVU Tech
13 Paulo Júnior Sousa Rodrigues 6' 176 Freshman Bertrange, Luxembourg FC Rodange
15 Bobby Pauly 6' 165 Junior St. Charles, Missouri Orchard Farm St. Louis Scott Gallagher
16 Garrison Hill 6'2" 175 Redshirt Sophomore Kansas City, Missouri The Pembroke Hill School Sporting Blue Valley SC
19 Colin Bastianoni 6' 170 Redshirt Junior Naperville, Illinois Metea Valley Eclipse SC
20 Mathias Clausen 5'11" 176 Freshman San Jose, Costa Rica Futbol Consultants Desamparados
25 Anton Mosley 6'1" 180 Redshirt Freshman Shiloh, Illinois Belleville-East St. Louis Scott Gallagher
26 Seth Comer 5'11" 165 Freshman Cedar Rapids, Iowa Linn-Mar High School VSA Rush
28 Murray Peart 6" 167 Freshman Eleebana, New South Wales, Australia Newcastle Jets
Midfielders
2 Tyler Sargent 5'10" 145 Redshirt Freshman Oakville, Missouri Whitfield School St. Louis City
6 Carles Zomeno 6' 160 Senior Valencia, Spain Salt Lake CC
8 Ethan Hackenberg 5'9" 160 Graduate Student Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United School of Sports Swiss 1.Liga Group 3 Virginia Tech
14 Zach Renz 5'10" 165 Redshirt Junior Wentzville, Missouri Timberland St. Louis Scott Gallagher Elite
18 Ben Perkins 6'2" 165 Redshirt Freshman Affton, Missouri St. John Vianney St. Louis Scott Gallagher
22 Jake Karolczak 5'10" 175 Redshirt Senior St. Charles, Missouri St. Dominic
23 Daniel Murray 5'10" 160 Freshman Croydon, London, England Portsmouth Football Club
24 Karson Gibbs 5'10" 160 Senior St. Charles, Missouri Fort Zumwalt South St. Louis City 2 St. Louis
Forwards
7 Ron Arie 6' 170 Sophomore Zikhron Ya'akov, Israel FIU
9 Evan Howard 6'5" 185 Senior Newcastle, England Coastal Carolina
10 Hugo Cornish 6'1" 170 Junior Sydney, Australia William Penn
21 Ryley Gibbs 6' 170 Sophomore O'Fallon, Missouri Fort Zumwalt South St. Louis City 2
27 Dominic Bartoni 6'2" 188 Redshirt Freshman St. Louis, Missouri CBC SMU

Schedule and results

Source=[9][10]

Exhibitions

August 9, 2025 SIUE v Illinois College Edwardsville, Illinois
6:00 PM [ ] Stadium: Ralph Korte Stadium
August 16, 2025 Cougar Kickoff Evansville v SIUE Edwardsville, Illinois
7:00 PM [ ] Stadium: Ralph Korte Stadium

Regular season

August 21, 2025 Florida Gulf Coast 2-1 SIUE Edwardsville, Illinois
7:30 PM Oliveira 18' ( Martinez)
Oliveira 61' (Murguia)
[1] Zomeno 76' (McDonnell) Stadium: Ralph Korte Stadium
Attendance: 432
Referee: Matthew Rodman
August 28, 2025 SIUE 2-1 Air Force Air Force Academy, Colorado
8:00 PM Howard 27' (unassisted)
Bastianoni 42' (Gibson)
[2] Toth 52' (unassisted} ) Stadium: Cadet Soccer Stadium
Attendance: 105
Referee: Jeff Arthurholtz
August 31, 2025 SIUE 1-2 #21 Denver Denver, Colorado
4:00 PM Howard 33' (PK) [3] Holger 11' (PK)
Wright 42' (Holger)
Stadium: Denver Soccer Stadium
Attendance: 678
Referee: Younes Marrakchi
September 7, 2025 Bronze Boot Game SIUE 1-2 #16 St. Louis Saint Louis, Missouri
6:00 PM Howard 87' (Cornish) [4] O'Neil 58' (Heckenlaible)
Franca 66' (Unassisted)
Stadium: Hermann Stadium
Attendance: 2245
Referee: Matthew Stein
September 11, 2025 Loyola Chicago 2-1 SIUE Edwardsville, Illinois
7:00 PM Ivancic 76' (Janjic)
Bischof 78' (Chavarria)
[5] Howard 45' (McDonnell)
McDonnell  76'
Stadium: Ralph Korte Stadium
Attendance: 269
Referee: Adam Herges
September 17, 2025 Kansas City 2-0 SIUE Edwardsville, Illinois
7:00 PM Outman 18' (Kistmann, Betina)
Francou 30' (Betina)
[6] Stadium: Ralph Korte Stadium
Attendance: 212
Referee: Velimir Milovic
September 21, 2025 SIUE 1-2 Omaha Omaha, Nebraska
1:00 PM Howard 52' (Forestier) [7] M.Perkins 30' (Igarashi)
Klien 34' (B.Perkins, Jenkins)
Stadium: Al F. Caniglia Field
Attendance: 144
September 27, 2025 Homecoming Lindenwood 2-0 SIUE Edwardsville, Illinois
Soares 77' (Chandler)
Csiszar 89' (Csiszar)
[8] McDonnell  56' Stadium: Ralph Korte Stadium
Attendance: 2372
Referee: George Major
October 2, 2025 SIUE 0-1 Western Illinois Macomb, Illinois
3:30 PM [9] Graham 80' (unassisted) Stadium: MacKenzie Alumni Field
Attendance: 50
Referee: Art Arustamyan
October 5 2025 Eastern Illinois 0-1 SIUE Edwardsville, Illinois
1:00 PM [10] Howard 9' (PK) Stadium: Ralph Korte Stadium
Attendance: 397
Referee: Josh Few
October 9, 2025 SIUE 0-0 Lindenwood St. Charles, Missouri
7:00 PM [11] Stadium: Hunter Stadium
Attendance: 207
Referee: Heber Estrada
October 21 2025 SIUE 2-2 Southern Indiana Evansville, Indiana
5:00 PM Bartoni 23' (Howard)
Perkins 31' (Sousa- Rodrigues & Cornish)
[ ] Bello 37' (Smith)
Davila 74' (unassisted)
Stadium: Strassweg Field
Attendance: 225
Referee: Aaron Rawlins
October 16, 2025 Alumni Day Houston Christian 0-1 SIUE Edwardsville, Illinois
5:00 PM [ ] Renz 85' ( Zomeno, Cornish) Stadium: Ralph Korte Stadium
Attendance: 187
Referee: Christopher Koloffon
October 19, 2025 Senior Day Incarnate Word 0-2 SIUE Edwardsville, Illinois
12:00 PM [ ] Howard 40' (unassisted)
Peart 81' (Howard, Karolczak)
Stadium: Ralph Korte Stadium
Attendance: 271
Referee: Youssef Elmessoussi
October 25 2025 SIUE 1-2 Liberty Lynchburg, Virginia
1:00 PM Conneh 19' (Blay)
Carman 32' (McCarthy)
[ ] Zomeno 71' (Renz, Bartoni) Stadium: Osborne Stadium
Attendance: 340
Referee: Kevin Uitto
October 30, 2025 Western Illinois 2-1 SIUE Edwardsville, Illinois
7:00 PM Gagnon 59' (Porras)
Porras 67' (Gainey)
[ ] Howard 14' (Zomeno) Stadium: Ralph Korte Stadium
Attendance: 115
Referee: John Kennedy
November 2, 2025 SIUE 2-1 Eastern Illinois Charleston, Illinois
3:00 PM Gibson {{}goal|39|unassisted}}
R.Gibbs 64' (Gibson)
[ ] Roberti 31' (TODA) Stadium: Lakeside Field
Attendance: 171
Referee: Cesar Ibarra

Post-season

2025 Ohio Valley Conference men's soccer tournament

November 9, 2025 Quarterfinals SIUE 2-0 Western Illinois St. Charles, Missouri
12:00 Noon Hackenberg 11' (Clausen)
Hackenberg 57' (PK)
[12] Stadium: Hunter Stadium
Attendance: 127
Referee: Christopher Spasovici
November 12, 2025 Semifinals Lindenwood 2-1 SIUE St. Charles, Missouri
4:00 PM blake 9' (Haesler)
Bartoni 36' (Legai)
Lasndais  87'
[13] Karolczak  90' Stadium: Hunter Stadium
Attendance: 789
Referee: Cesar Ibarra

Scoring

Source=[11]

  • Through game of November 12
Player Goals Assists Points
Evan Howard 8 3 19
Carles Zomeno 2 2 6
Ethan Hackenberg 2 0 4
Wesley Gibson 1 1 3
Zach Renz 1 1 3
Dominic Bartoni 1 1 3
Hugo Cornish 0 3 3
Ryley Gibbs 1 0 2
Murray Peart 1 0 2
Ben Perkins 1 0 2
Colin Bastianoni 1 0 2
Archie McDonnell 0 2 2
Mathias Clausen 0 1 1
Jake Karolczak 0 1 1
Paulo Júnior Sousa Rodrigues 0 1 1
Elliott Forestier 0 1 1

Statistics

Source:[11]

  • Through game of November 12
Field Players
# Name Games Starts Minutes Goals Assists Points Shots Shot %age Shots On Goal OG %age Yellow/Red cards Game Winners Penalty Goals/Kicks
9 Evan Howard 16 16 1309 8 3 19 50 .160 24 .480 3-0 2 3-4
6 Carles Zomeno 18 17 1489 2 2 6 28 .071 13 .464 3-0 0 0-0
4 Wesley Gibson 19 18 1658 1 2 4 7 0.173 4 0.571 5-0 0 0-1
8 Ethan Hackenberg 16 11 857 2 0 4 22 0.091 7 .318 5-0 1 1-1
10 Hugo Cornish 19 12 988 0 3 3 25 0.000 11 .440 3-0 0 0-0
14 Zach Renz 18 10 869 1 1 3 9 0.111 5 0.556 0-0 1 0-0
27 Dominic Bartoni 12 5 416 1 0 2 11 0.091 3 0.273 4-0 0 0-0
19 Colin Bastianoni 16 9 791 1 0 2 8 .125 3 .375 3-0 1 0-0
21 Ryley Gibbs 13 3 393 1 0 2 8 0.125 3 0.375 1-0 1 0-0
5 Archie McDonnell 16 16 1392 0 2 2 1 0.000 0 0.000 3-2 0 0-0
28 Murray Peart 10 2 318 1 0 2 3 0.333 2 0.667 0-0 0 0-0
18 Ben Perkins 19 11 931 1 0 2 17 0.059 4 .235 0-0 0 0-0
20 Mathias Clausen 13 9 738 0 1 1 7 0.000 2 0.286 1-0 0 0-0
3 Elliott Forestier 16 10 877 0 1 1 4 0.000 1 0.250 1-0 0 0-0
22 Jake Karolczak 17 7 677 0 1 1 8 0.00 3 0.375 1-1 0 0-0
13 Paulo Júnior Sousa Rodrigues 9 2 272 0 1 1 0 0.000 0 0.000 2-0 0 0-0
1 Noah Scheidweiler 19 19 1633 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0.000 0-0 0 0-0
2 Tyler Sargent 2 0 22 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0.000 0-0 0 0-0
7 Ron Arie 6 0 98 0 0 0 2 0.000 1 0.500 1-0 0 0-0
12 Enrique Ezquerro 1 0 19 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0.000 0-0 0 0-0
15 Bobby Pauly 19 19 1690 0 0 0 2 0.000 0 0.000 1-0 0 0-0
23 Daniel Murray 15 121 930 0 0 0 2 0.000 1 0.500 4-0 0 0-0
24 Karson Gibbs 6 1 193 0 0 0 1 0.000 0 0.000 0-0 0 0-0
25 Anton Mosley 3 0 17 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0.000 0-0 0 0-0
29 Ethan Kornas 1 0 77 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0.000 0-0 0 0-0
16 Garrison Hill 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0.000 0-0 0 0-0
26 Seth Comer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0.000 0-0 0 0-0
30 Patrick O'Day 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0.000 0-0 0 0-0
Totals 19 19 18,762 19 17 55 218 0.087 87 .399 44-3 6 4-6
Opponents 19 19 18,790 25 22 72 215 .116 95 .442 40-2 11 1-1
Goalkeepers
# Name Games Starts Minutes Goals allowed GA Ave. Saves Save % Wins Loses Ties Shutouts Shots Faced
29 Ethan Kornas 1 0 77:03 1 1.17 3 .750 0 1 0 0 19
1 Noah Scheidweiler 19 19 1632:57 24 1.32 66 .733 6 10 2 5 196
30 Patrick O'Day 0 0 0:00 0 0.000 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 19 19 1720:00 25 1.32 69 .734 6 11 2 5 218
Opponents 18 18 1620:00 19 1.06 67 .779 10 6 2 4 205
Additional stats Corner kicks Offsides Fouls Goals/game
SIUE 88 33 212 1.00
Opponents 77 34 218 1.22

References

  1. ^ a b "2025 Men's Soccer Roster". Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  2. ^ "2025 Men's Soccer Cumulative Statistics". Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  3. ^ "Men's Soccer Picked as Ohio Valley Conference Favorites Publisher=Ohio Valley Confrence". 14 August 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  4. ^ "Hackenberg scores twice to lift SIUE past WIU in OVC quarterfinals". The Telegraph/Edwardsville Publishing Company, LLC. November 10, 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  5. ^ "Lindenwood ends SIUE's OVC soccer streak in semifinals". The Telegraph/Edwardsville Publishing Company, LLC. November 12, 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  6. ^ "2025 OVC Men's Soccer Awards Announced" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. 7 November 2025. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  7. ^ "Lindenwood Wins 2025 OVC Men's Soccer Championship in PK's" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. 15 November 2025. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  8. ^ "SIUE (Men's) / Roster". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  9. ^ "2025 Men's Soccer Schedule". Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  10. ^ "SIUE (Men's) / Scores & Schedule". Top Drawer Soccer.com. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
  11. ^ a b "2025 Men's Soccer Cumulative Statistics". Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Retrieved 1 September 2025.