Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va.- Senior forward
Brandon Bye scored in the 96th minute as the No. 8 ranked Western Michigan men's soccer team defeated No. 15 West Virginia 1-0 in overtime Friday on the road.
The win was WMU's 13th of the season, setting a new program record for victories in a season. The 1988 and 2003 teams each won 12 games. The current Broncos have a 13-2-1 record and are undefeated in Mid-American Conference play with a 3-0-0 record.
"The guys put in a great performance on the road, against a quality team that gave us everything they had," WMU head coach
Chad Wiseman said. "Thirteen wins, the men have broke a record that no one can take away from them. They have earned it."
Western Michigan has two games left in the regular season, both conference matchups and both at home. The Broncos host SIU-Edwardsville on Saturday, Oct. 28 and Bowling Green on Saturday, Nov. 4. The MAC regular season champion hosts the conference postseason tournament, Nov. 10 & 12.
Western Michigan redshirt senior
Drew Shepherd has been the goalie of record in 12 of WMU's 13 victories this season, setting a new single-season goalkeeper record. The shutout over the Mountaineers was Shepherd's ninth of the season, tying the school record, and 25th career, setting a new school record. Matt Borkowski's previous career shutout record of 24 was set back in 1991.
"
Drew Shepherd with the shutout record and win record is amazing," Wiseman said. "I think hands down he is one of the best goalkeepers in the country. We're very happy he is on our team and he deserves everything that comes his way."
Bye's goal was his team-leading 11th of the season, and fourth game-winner of the year.
Jay McIntosh took a free kick from 25 yards out and tapped it over to Bye. Bye fired into the lower left corner of the net that deflected in with 95:35 on the clock.
West Virginia and Western Michigan both had five shots and two shots on goal in the contest. Shepherd made two saves for the Broncos.
Â
"The game was full of intense moments but very few scoring chances," Wiseman said. "In the fiirst half we battled, we knew West Virginia would come out strong and we would have to weather those early moments and we did just that. In the second half Brandon started to impact the game more and more. The game-winner was an absolute rocket.
"
Zach Bock's performance in the back tonight was unbelievable, you just can't get by him.Â
Â
"We also had some players really step up off the bench tonight,
Cameron Sipple, Pepe Martinez and
Anthony Bowie really gave us great effort tonight and we needed it."
NOTES:
• WMU's current No. 8 ranking (released Oct. 17) is the highest in school history, Broncos have been ranked for five-straight weeksÂ
• WMU is 4-1 against top 25 ranked opponents this season
• WMU has 10 shutouts total (Shepherd - 9,
Elijah Michaels - 1), second most in single season in school history (record is 12, set in 2015)
•
Brandon Bye's 11 goals is the most by a Bronco in a single season since 2009. Bye had 10 goals in first three seasons combined, now with 21 career. He ranks in the top 10 in single-season goal total and career goal total.
• Bye's seven career game-winning goals ties for third most in school history (record is nine, set by Tom Oatley in 2007)
Â
