SAN ANTONIO -- The Ohio Valley Conference announced its 2026 All-OVC award winners Thursday afternoon, recognizing three UIW players and head coach Kiki Lara. The Cardinals placed three players on the OVC All-Conference First Team and one on the All-Newcomer Team, along with two individual conference awards.
Head Coach Kiki Lara was named the OVC Co-Coach of the Year, sharing the honor with Lindenwood's Kris Bertsch. Lara guided the Cardinals to the most conference wins in a season since 2014, when UIW finished its first season in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) 6-3-1. The Cardinals' 6-7-3 overall record also marks their best since 2024. Under Lara's leadership, his alma mater has earned a postseason berth in three of the last four seasons, securing the No. 3 seed this year, the program's highest postseason placement since 2023.
Diego Robles received OVC Forward of the Year and All-OVC First Team honors after leading the Cardinals in nearly every offensive category. The San Antonio native finished the regular season with 10 goals, 44 shots, 31 shots on goal and five game-winning goals. He led the conference in goals, game-winning goals and points while ranking second in shots on goal. Nationally, Robles ranks first in game-winning goals (5), second in shot accuracy (.705), 18th in total goals (10) and 27th in goals per game (0.62).
Robles collected two OVC Player of the Week awards this season. He earned his first after scoring four goals across two matches, including his first career hat trick in the Cardinal's comeback victory over Southern Indiana. The next week, he claimed his second weekly award after scoring in both matches during the week of Oct. 19. His 57th-minute goal against Western Illinois broke a scoreless tie and marked his fourth game-winning goal of the season. He also added a goal in UIW's victory over Southern Indiana that week.
Charles Chimezie earned both All-OVC First Team and All-Newcomer Team honors in his first season with the Cardinals after transferring from Dallas College-Richland. The Dallas native played in 13 consecutive matches, playing for the full 90 minutes in each contest before a season-ending injury against Houston Christian on Oct. 25. Chimezie earned his first OVC weekly honor on Oct. 20 after helping UIW to a 2-0 week in Illinois. He played a key role in the Cardinals' defensive effort, helping secure their first clean sheet of the season against Eastern Illinois after holding the Panthers scoreless in the second half of the previous contest to complete a UIW comeback victory. Despite missing the final two matches of the regular season, Chimezie still ranks second on the team in total minutes played.
Regan Gyedu earned his first conference honor with a selection to the All-OVC First Team. The Ghana native ranks second on the team in goals with three this season. He's proved to be efficient on set pieces for the Cardinals, recording two of his goals via corner kick assists. One of those goals came in UIW's 4-2 victory over Southern Indiana, which sparked a three-game winning streak for the Cardinals. He continues to be a consistent presence in the Cardinals' midfield logging 1194 points this season, the third-most on the team.
All-OVC First Team
Quinn Closson, Lindenwood GK
Luke Neely, Lindenwood D
Archie McDonnell, SIUE D
Charles Chimezie, UIW D
Ricardo Garcia, HCU MF
Mouhamed Pouye, UTRGV MF
Reagan Gyedu, UIW MF
Diego Robles, UIW F
Xavier Gagnon, Western Illinois F
Ryan Okerayi, HCU F
Sergej Misic, Eastern Illinois F
All-Newcomer Team
Andre Ecker, Eastern Illinois D
Sergej Misic, Eastern Illinois F
Harvey Heeps, HCU GK
Marcos Moore, HCU F
Clement Baron, Lindenwood D
Milton Kapaya, Lindenwood D
Javaun Mills, Lindenwood MF
Leland Gray, Lindenwood MF
Brady Cochrane, SIUE GK
Christian Rotundo, Southern Indiana MF
Charles Chimezie, UIW D
Victor Van Der Aa, UTRGV D
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