ANN ARBOR, Mich.- The Western Michigan men's soccer team proved once again they are a force to be reckoned with, battling the University of Michigan to a 0-0 draw on the road Tuesday night in Ann Arbor.

With the result, Western Michigan tied the school record of nine shutouts, a mark that had only previously been accomplished in 1988 and 1989.

In the last four years, Western Michigan has a 2-1-1 record against its Big Ten counterpart, Michigan, playing all those games in Ann Arbor.

Western Michigan entered Tuesday's contest after playing a hard fought Mid-American Conference match against the nationally No. 5 ranked Akron squad this past Saturday, also taking the Zips to a double-overtime, 110-minute tie (1-1).

WMU takes an 8-3-4 overall record and a 1-1-1 MAC mark into this Saturday's game against MAC opponent Northern Illinois.

“I am happy with our performance at Michigan; the first 45 minutes I thought we were absolutely flying around,” said WMU head coach Chad Wiseman.

“We were all a little disappointed we didn't find a goal to win the game. Again I think we deserved a better result, but you have to find ways to win games when you should.”

Western Michigan took 14 shots in the match and had six corner kicks. Michigan trailed in the statistical column with just seven shots and three corner services.

Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Drew Shepherd notched his sixth shutout of the season and remains without a loss between the posts for WMU, recording one save and bumping his season record to 5-0-3.

“We had great combination play in the midfield and were very strong on the ball,” Wiseman said. “We were just locked in everywhere. You have to give credit to Michigan for their team defending and cutting out many services in the box.

“We are in good form right now. We are playing some of our best soccer at the right time of the year and we're having a lot of fun doing it. Our team will rest and recover and prepare the next few days for a very good Northern Illinois team. This upcoming Saturday is another game in conference with a lot on the line, on the road, and we will be ready.

“We played Akron hard last week who was the No. 5 team in the nation. We know the MAC is not an easy conference, and with only five league games, it's one of the toughest. We are back in the regional rankings, at No. 7, and I think well-deserving at this time of the year. From here on out, we have to make the most of our opportunities.”