Western Michigan University Athletics

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - The Western Michigan men's soccer team's 2018 season came to an end on Sunday, Nov. 11 with a 3-0 loss versus Akron University in the Mid-American Conference Championship game on the campus of West Virginia University. 

Appearing in their seventh MAC title game as a program, the Broncos faced Akron for the fifth time in MAC Championship game history and were unable to get past the No. 4 seeded Zips as they won their 14th MAC Tournament title.

After an unusual end to the regular season finale with its regular season finale match at Akron canceled due to a power outage, Western Michigan was handed the No. 3 seed for the MAC Tournament and advanced to the finals with wins over No. 6 seed Northern Illinois and No. 2 seed Bowling Green. The Broncos finished the 2018 season with an 11-6-3 overall record. 

"Congratulations to Coach Jared Embick and his team," said head coach Chad Wiseman. "They are very deserving of the result today."

Akron peppered the Broncos with 13 shots in the first 45 minutes while owning a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks. The Broncos fired three shots in the first half, but none were on target. WMU freshman goalkeeper Lukas Von Lienen made seven saves in the first half to help keep the scored deadlocked at 0-0 at halftime. 

"We competed hard in the first half but we weren't really able to play on our terms," Wiseman said. "Lukas made some big saves to keep the game scoreless and we only created one good chance but Anthony Bowie wasn't able to find the target."

The Broncos stormed back in the second half with a 7-4 shot advantage, but an Akron goal off of a corner kick stood as the eventual game-winner. David Egbo scored his 10th of the year at the 64th minute, heading in the game-winning goal. Down a goal, WMU was unable to find an equalizer for the remainder of time while the Zips added two more goals late to seal the 3-0 win. 

"The second half was going just as we wanted it to go, playing in Akron's half of the field," Wiseman commented. "We had more bite and were turning them over or making them play longer balls. We conceded a corner kick and lost a mark in the box which is not like us to do so. From then on we were chasing the game and just could not find the equalizer." 

Von Lienen collected a career-high eight saves in the loss, finishing his freshman campaign with an 8-3-3 record. Bowie led the Broncos with three shots, followed by a pair from Cameron Sipple. 

"Our team showed a lot fight this year and this senior class has a lot to be proud of. The future looks bright, we have lots of young players in our program that played well this year," Wiseman concluded. 

WMU's Anthony Bowie, Jake Rufe, and Ben Thornton all earned spots on the MAC All-Tournament team.

The Western Michigan 2018 senior class of Tommy Clark, Connor McNulty, Elijah Michaels, Kosti Moni, Jake Rufe, Cameron Sipple, and Ben Thornton totaled 48 wins as a class, the all-time winning class leader in program history.