Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The Western Michigan men's soccer team earned its second-straight shutout at home and its second Mid-American Conference victory in three tries, blanking Bowling Green 3-0 Wednesday. Sam Meyer led the offense with a goal and a pair of assists, while Andrew Gasiorek added a goal and a helper. Saeed Sulemana Baba also scored for the Broncos.
Western Michigan improved to 2-1-0 in the MAC and 3-10-1 overall. Bowling Green fell to 0-3-0 in league play and 3-8-1 overall.
"It was a good win today, the guys should enjoy it," WMU head coach Chris Karwoski said. "We don't have the best record out of conference, but what matters right now is the MAC season. The team hasn't given up the whole year, even when times were down and its nice for them to see the fruits of their labor."
Gasiorek's eventual game-winning goal came 26:09 into the first half off a restart. Doug Raak played the ball from the right side and Meyer redirected on to Gasiorek, who flicked it in with his foot midair for his first goal of the season.
The Bronco defense stood strong with its 1-0 lead through what was a fairly evenly played first half. Both teams took four shots in the opening period.
Bowling Green came out of the break with more urgency, firing three shots in the first 10 minutes and actually outshot WMU in the second half, 7-5. Western Michigan made use of its opportunities however, and after several good runs, Sulemana Baba was able to give the Broncos an insurance goal at 72:07.
Tyler Rosenhagen brought the ball down the left side of the field and passed it over to Meyer at the top of the 18-yard box. Meyer found Sulemana Baba open on the backside, who drew the keeper out and snuck the ball in from six-yards out. Sulemana Baba has now scored in back-to-back games, and leads WMU with three goals this season.
After assisting the first two goals, Meyer finally got one of his own in the 83rd minute, this time it was Gasiorek on the assisting end. Gasiorek played the ball into open space from the midfield and Meyer was able to speed away on the breakaway, burying the his shot in the middle of the net. The three goals tied a game season-high for Western Michigan.
The Bronco back line was able to disrupt almost all of BGSU's offensive runs, as their closest call defensively came in the 79th minute, when a shot by BGSU's Dusko Topolic ricocheted off the crossbar. Freshman keeper Paul Lewis was forced to make just one save as he improved his record to 2-3 this year.
Western Michigan will look to make it three-straight wins at home, hosting non-conference opponent Detroit Sunday at the WMU Soccer Complex at 1 p.m.
