Leatherneck Nation

Western Men's Soccer capped the regular season with a statement win today by defeating top-ranked Lindenwood 2–0 at John MacKenzie Alumni Field to clinch a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

Western finishes the regular season with a 5-10-4 overall record and 3-3-4 in the OVC -- 5th place out of eight in the conference.

The top 6 teams made the conference tournament.  Southern Indiana and Incarnate Word are the two teams that did not make the conference tournament.

Next up, Western advances to the first round of the OVC Tournament where the Leathernecks will face #4 SIU-Edwardsville on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT.

The winner of that game will play #1 Lindenwood in a semi-final on Nov 12.

The OVC Tournament will be played at Lindenwood (St Charles, MO).
 
 
 

#4 SIU-Edwardsville beat #5 Western 2-0 today in an OVC Tournament Quarter-Final game.

Attendance at Lindenwood = 127
 

Coach Johnson has announced that he is retiring after 29 years as the HC of the men's soccer team: https://goleathernecks.com/news/2025/11 ... ement.aspx

Happy for EJ, but sad for WIU … In the history of WIU Men’s Soccer there have only been 2 head coaches … John MacKenzie and EJ.  Thank you EJ for continuing the legacy of Mac.  

I have not seen the opening posted.  Anyone hear anything about hiring plans?

The third Men’s Soccer Coach in WIU soccer history is EJ’s son…

https://goleathernecks.com/news/2025/12 ... coach.aspx
 

Man i like Paul Bubb but it seems like he just throws a dart at a board when hiring and firing coaches. Fire a volleyball coached one year removed from the best runs they've had in several years. Yet we keep a softball coach who's gotten worse every season. We hire a basketball coach without a real search now we hire a soccer coach who was an assistant for one of the worst girls teams in the country just because he was the last coaches son . The jury is still out on Davis .

leatherneckcountry wrote: Fri Dec 19, 2025 12:33 am Man i like Paul Bubb but it seems like he just throws a dart at a board when hiring and firing coaches. Fire a volleyball coached one year removed from the best runs they've had in several years. Yet we keep a softball coach who's gotten worse every season. We hire a basketball coach without a real search now we hire a soccer coach who was an assistant for one of the worst girls teams in the country just because he was the last coaches son . The jury is still out on Davis .

 

Honestly, I think it's more "who can we get for cheap". Like, the new Coach Johnson might have been willing to take a bit of a school-friendly deal for the opportunity to be a HC at "home".
Maybe the contract with our softball coach is also such that we are unlikely to get anyone else in that price range.

ST_Lawson wrote: Fri Dec 19, 2025 8:14 am

leatherneckcountry wrote: Fri Dec 19, 2025 12:33 am Man i like Paul Bubb but it seems like he just throws a dart at a board when hiring and firing coaches. Fire a volleyball coached one year removed from the best runs they've had in several years. Yet we keep a softball coach who's gotten worse every season. We hire a basketball coach without a real search now we hire a soccer coach who was an assistant for one of the worst girls teams in the country just because he was the last coaches son . The jury is still out on Davis .


 

Honestly, I think it's more "who can we get for cheap". Like, the new Coach Johnson might have been willing to take a bit of a school-friendly deal for the opportunity to be a HC at "home".
Maybe the contract with our softball coach is also such that we are unlikely to get anyone else in that price range.

 

Softball hire may be a work in progress.  I dont see any coaches link on the current roster page.

sealhall74 wrote: Fri Dec 19, 2025 10:59 am

ST_Lawson wrote: Fri Dec 19, 2025 8:14 am

leatherneckcountry wrote: Fri Dec 19, 2025 12:33 am Man i like Paul Bubb but it seems like he just throws a dart at a board when hiring and firing coaches. Fire a volleyball coached one year removed from the best runs they've had in several years. Yet we keep a softball coach who's gotten worse every season. We hire a basketball coach without a real search now we hire a soccer coach who was an assistant for one of the worst girls teams in the country just because he was the last coaches son . The jury is still out on Davis .



 

Honestly, I think it's more "who can we get for cheap". Like, the new Coach Johnson might have been willing to take a bit of a school-friendly deal for the opportunity to be a HC at "home".
Maybe the contract with our softball coach is also such that we are unlikely to get anyone else in that price range.


 

Softball hire may be a work in progress.  I dont see any coaches link on the current roster page.

 

Well they got a commit a couple days ago and Goler shared it