Men's Soccer | August 30, 2017
KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The Western Michigan men's soccer team (2-0-0) will be on the road for the first time this season with a matchup at Eastern Illinois on Friday, Sept. 1 at 4 p.m. before returning home to the WMU Soccer Complex Monday, Sept. 4 at 3 p.m. to host Cincinnati. Admission to the WMU Soccer Complex is free.
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BRONCOS HOT START
The Broncos racked up two victories in the opening weekend of the season. The first came against LIU Brooklyn last Friday. WMU went down 2-0 in the first half but came out very strong in the second half and scored three goals to get the 3-2 victory. In his first game as a Bronco, junior defender
Ben Thornton tallied two assists as junior
Nathan Hoover and junior transfer Kosti Moni recorded the goals. Late in the match Moni sent a cross far post off a free kick to senior defender
Zach Bock for the game-winning goal.
WMU kicked off Fill the Farm Day at the WMU Soccer Complex in style as Thornton stayed hot and found the back of the net for his first goal as a Bronco in the 10
th minute to put pressure on Stetson. Senior midfielder
Brandon Bye returned to the pitch after serving a one-game suspension due to a red card from the end of last season. Bye proved why he was an All-Mid-American-Conference selection last season recording three assists and a goal. Midfielders
Jake Rufe and Pepe Martinez both scored their first goals in the Bronco uniform on the day as well. As WMU defeated Stetson 5-0, redshirt senior goalkeeper
Drew Shepherd recorded his 17
th career shutout and his first this season.
DOMINANCE
On the statistical side of things WMU has shown dominance in almost every offensive category. Head coach
Chad Wiseman said before the season started that this team was going to be explosive. The Broncos have shown that in just their first two games of the season. WMU is outshooting its opponents 35 to 11 while placing 15 on frame for a .429 shots on goal percentage. The Broncos have scored eight goals this season coming from all different players while giving up just two this season.
SCOUTING EASTERN ILLINOIS
The Panthers finished last season with a 5-12-1 record with a big win coming against MAC opponent Northern Illinois and dropping a tough 1-0 loss to No. 8 Denver. To start its 2017 season, Eastern Illinois drew both of its matches against Green Bay and Milwaukee 1-1. Goals for the Panthers came from Alessandro Corti and Alex Castaneda.
EIU is returning its top goal scorer Alex Castaneda and its top assist leader Yann Nsoga. The biggest key for the Panthers is two-time All-Summit-League selection goalkeeper Mike Novotny. Novotny has already made 13 saves on the season and 10 of those came in the last match against Milwaukee.
SCOUTING CINCINNATI
The Bearcats finished last season with a 9-7-1 record barely missing out on the American Athletic Conference Tournament. Cincinnati started its season with a win 3-1 over Gardner-Webb before dropping its next game to Wright State 2-4. The Bearcats will play IUPUI Friday, Sept. 1 before coming to Kalamazoo on Monday, Sept. 4.
Leading the way for the Bearcats in points is David Sanz with two goals and an assist. The Bearcats are spreading the ball around with a four-way tie for the lead in assists. Cincinnati is averaging 13.0 shots per game with .462 of those shots landing on goal. The Bearcats are averaging 2.50 goals per game. In net for the Bearcats is Noah Lawrence who has five saves on the season and has a .500 save percentage.
NEXT FOR THE BRONCOS
The Broncos are on the road for their next three matches. First, on Friday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. the Broncos travel Butler before heading to Des Moines, Iowa to face Drake on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 4 p.m. Ending the road trip, WMU plays in-state opponent Oakland on Wednesday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.
