KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The No. 13 Western Michigan men's soccer team (10-2-1) will be on the road this week with a matchup against Northern Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m.
 
BRONCOS WEEK RECAP
The Broncos faced off against No. 6 Michigan State and the defending Mid-American Conference champions Akron this past week. WMU fell short to Michigan State 1-0 on Wednesday in a closely contested game. WMU bounced back on Saturday and defeated Akron 1-0. This was WMU's third regular season win over Akron ever. Redshirt Tommy Clark found the back of the net off a free kick in the 56^th minute for his first career goal.
 
During the Michigan State game, redshirt senior goalkeeper Drew Shepherd suffered an injury before the end of the first half that sidelined him for the remainder of the game and held him out against Akron. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Elijah Michaels stepped up big time in Shepherd's absence against Akron. Making his first career start, Michaels recorded five saves against the Zips to help secure the victory. For his efforts, Michaels was named MAC Co-Player of the Week and to the TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week.   
 
WMU PUTTING UP BIG NUMBERS
Western Michigan continues to lead the MAC in shots (203), points (74), goals (23), assists (28), shutouts (7) and corners (73). Individually, senior midfielder Brandon Bye is first in the MAC in shots (59), points (18) and goals (7). Right behind Bye is senior forward Jay McIntosh who is second in the MAC in goals (4), shots (33) and points (14). McIntosh leads the MAC in assists with six. 
 
The Broncos are also highly ranked in the nation in several statistical categories. WMU is 13^th in shots (15.62) and shots on goal (7.0) per game, sixth in total assists (29), 20^th in total goals (23) and 19^th in shutout percentage (0.540). Bye is 13^th in game-winning goals (3), third in shots (4.92) and shots on goal (2.67) per game. McIntosh is 19^th in assits with six. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Drew Shepherd is 13^th in shutouts with six.
 
SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
The Huskies are entering the game with a 3-7-1 record. Northern Illinois started MAC play with a 1-1 tie against West Virginia. Jan Maertins is tied for second in the MAC in points with 14 off four goals and an assist. In goal for the Huskies is Konrad Dziedzic who has a .600 save percentage on the season. Dziedic has made 24 saves and is averaging 2.22 goals per game. Northern Illinois is averaging 9.3 shots per game and 4.7 corner kicks per game. NIU has not produced a winning result since they defeated Omaha 1-0 on Sept. 15.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Overall the Broncos trail the all-time series 8-17-1. However, in the last five matchups the Broncos have won four and tied once. Of WMU's three victories at NIU, head coach Chad Wiseman was the coach for two of them.
 
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
It is the fifth-straight week the Broncos are ranked in the top 25. WMU's RPI is ranked No. 9 this week, the highest among Mid-American Conference programs. The Broncos have been ranked in several other formats. CollegeSoccerNews and Soccer America both have WMU at No. 13, while TopDrawerSoccer has the Broncos at No. 8 in their rankings.
 
NEXT FOR THE BRONCOS
WMU faces University of Wisconsin-Green Bay on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 4 p.m. for a quick non-conference matchup at the WMU Soccer Complex. Then the Broncos head to West Virginia for their last away game of the season on Friday, Oct. 20 starting at 7 p.m.