KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The Western Michigan men's soccer program returned to winning fashion this afternoon with an exciting 3-2 victory over visiting Eastern Illinois, Sunday, Sept. 18 at the WMU Soccer Complex. Wrapping up Alumni Weekend, the Broncos improve to 6-1-0 overall.

Three different Broncos found the back of the net in the victory. Senior captain Edu Jimenez totaled four points in the match, assisting WMU's first and last goal while scoring a goal of his own in the first half.    

How it Happened:
Western Michigan scored first in the 24th minute off a beautiful combination play from a Bronco corner kick. Jimenez delivered a near perfect ball into the box right towards Connor McNulty's feet. McNulty laid the ball back to an oncoming forward Jay McIntosh at the six-yard box. McIntosh buried his second goal of the season. 

Eastern Illinois countered in the 35th minute off a long throw-in that bounced back to midfielder Miguel Carillo who sent a blistering 25-yard shot past WMU goalkeeper Drew Shepherd, evening the score 1-1. The Broncos would create chances but were unable to score as the scoreboard read 1-1 at the half. 

The Broncos would regain the lead in the second half after defender Hunter Vandenboom was taken out in box giving Western Michigan a penalty kick. Jimenez stepped up and placed the ball past the Eastern Illinois keeper giving WMU a 2-1 advantage in the 54th minute.       

The Panthers evened the score just three minutes later when the Bronco midfield turned the ball over giving forward Yann Nsoga a chance to make a play. The forward made one pass to Trevor Kerns who had a one-on-one with Shepherd and tucked his shot away.

With the match knotted at 2-2, Jimenez sent a threading ball inbetween the Panther defense to a wide open Cameron Sipple. The sophomore midfielder tallied his first goal of the season and the game-winning goal for the Broncos in the 85th minute.
 
Shepherd was called upon to make two saves in the victory. In the 65th minute, he turned away a Panther free kick that was sailing towards the upper ninety corner, diving to his right and tipping the ball away. Western Michigan outshot Eastern Illinois 21-6 while holding the 11-0 advantage in corner kicks during the afternoon. 

Quotable:
"Today was a great performance for our team," said WMU head coach Chad Wiseman. "We had possession of the ball for most of the time while making good decisions. We created several good chances that we were able to finish. You have to give EIU credit, they didn't have many opportunities but they finished the ones they created. It was a great Alumni Weekend for our program, we had so many alumni in town and we were able to cap the weekend off with a win." 

Up Next:
Wednesday the Broncos hit the road to face Big Ten opponent, University of Michigan. The game is slated to kick off at 7:30 p.m., in Ann Arbor, Mich.