EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Western Michigan men's soccer team and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville battled to a 1-1 draw after double overtime during a Mid-American Conference contest Saturday, Oct. 13, as both teams earned a point in the conference standings. 

In their first MAC road match of the season, the Broncos (7-5-2, 0-1-1 MAC) traded goals with the Cougars (9-1-3, 1-0-1) nearly six minutes apart in the first half and were scoreless throughout the rest of the match, including two overtime frames. 

"It was a hard fought point on the road against a talented SIUE team," said head coach Chad Wiseman. "It's a tough road trip and to come away with a point is very positive."

The home team struck first 17 minutes in to claim a 1-0 lead, but the Brown & Gold answered quickly. Just under 23 minutes in, Jake Rufe fed Paul Liagre a nice through ball, who finished for his first goal as a Bronco. The assist was Rufe's first of the season as well. 

"Congrats to Paul on his first Bronco goal," Wiseman commented. "It was a great finish and set up very nicely by Rufe."

The scoreboard read 1-1 heading into the break, where it stood for the rest of the match. WMU held a 5-1 shot and 2-0 corner kick advantage heading to the second half. 

"Both teams had some chances to win the game," said Wiseman. "It was back and forth all night, I thought."

SIUE outshot the Broncos 8-5 throughout the second half and the two overtime periods, finishing the match with a 11-10 advantage. Western Michigan limited the Cougars to two shots on goal while recording six. Mike Melaragni led WMU with two shots on target. 

Lukas Von Lienen tied a career-high with 110 minutes played and made one save in net for the Broncos while his record moved to 5-2-2 during his freshman campaign. 

Next up, Western Michigan returns to WMU Soccer Complex on Tuesday, Oct. 16 to host Xavier University. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. with the match being broadcasted on ESPN . 

"Our conference is so talented right now. Each and very game is a high-level college soccer match. This will be a lot of fun as we see it play out," Wiseman concluded.