DETROIT, Mich.- Western Michigan couldn't pull itself back after giving up three first-half goals, falling on the road at Detroit, 3-2. Coming off the bench, freshman Aaron Hebden scored his first collegiate goal while Shane Lyons netted WMU's second.

Pat Lepera was a factor in all three Titan goals, scoring the first two and assisting on the third. He found the back of the net just after the 11 minute mark, streaking down the right side and firing from 10 yards out. He made it 2-0 in UD's favor at 39:44, knocking in a header off a corner kick. Less than a minute later, Lepera found Patrick Soltys just inside the box and Soltys buried a ball from 15 yards out to make the score 3-0. Bronco keeper Matt Murrell gave up all three goals and made one save. He would be replaced by Sean Lewis after the half.

Hebden put Western Michigan on the board in the 62nd minute, ripping a shot from 15 yards out into the bottom left corner. Oliver Mayer was credited with the assist. Lyons scored his team-leading sixth goal in the 87th minute, tapping in Derek Schrauben's pass inside the six, to pull WMU within one, but time ran out on the Broncos.

"To outshoot your opponent 25-13 and lose indicates some problems," said WMU head coach Stu Riddle. "We dug ourselves a big hole by finding ourselves 3-0 down at half time. You have to create credit Detroit for taking their chances but we will look back at this as another missed opportunity in a game we dominated."

Western Michigan fired 25 shots in the game, 12 in the first half and 13 in the second. A total of 23 Broncos saw action, freshman Mitch Rosendall made his first career appearance.

Western Michigan (3-6-0) opens Mid-American Conference play Saturday against defending national champion Akron (6-0-2) at 1 p.m. The Broncos finished second to the Zips last year in both the conference regular season and MAC championship game. In the regular-season matchup, WMU fell in a close 2-1 battle in Akron.