Men's Soccer | June 20, 2018

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Following a historic season, sixth-year head coach Chad Wiseman and the Western Michigan men's soccer team unveiled its challenging 2018 slate, which includes 10 home matches along with five opponents from the 2017 NCAA Tournament field. Admission to all WMU home soccer games inside the WMU Soccer Complex is free.

"I am very pleased with how the 2018 schedule came together," commented reigning Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year Wiseman. "Similar to last season, it is loaded with the very best programs in the nation from a year ago. This past year we played the 20th hardest schedule in the country and did very well with it. This is the level of competition we want to continue to play and measure ourselves against."

During the 2017 season, Wiseman led the Broncos to unprecedented success, finishing 17-4-1 overall and ranked No. 9 in the nation all while being ranked in the United Soccer Coaches poll for 11 consecutive weeks, including seven inside the top 10. WMU had its highest ranking of No. 4 on Nov. 7 and was ranked No. 5 the week prior. The Broncos won their first ever MAC regular season championship, going a perfect 5-0-0 in conference play, and captured its first NCAA Tournament win over Albany before falling to Michigan State in the Sweet 16.

In all, Western Michigan will compete in 18 regular season matches with four matchups against opponents that finished in the top-30 last season including No. 3 Akron, No. 12 Butler, No. 22 Michigan and No. 28 Pacific.

WMU is scheduled to play in two away exhibition games including Michigan State (8/13) and Valparaiso (8/16). The Broncos open their 48th season hosting Loyola-Chicago on Friday, Aug. 24 at 5 p.m.

"The home portion of the schedule is going to be very enjoyable for our fans and supporters," added Wiseman. "We will have some tough tests and some fresh faces at the WMU Soccer Complex this fall."

The University of Maryland-Baltimore County (9/15), Xavier (10/16) and Pacific (9/30) will all be making their first trip to Kalamazoo this season while the conference home opener is schedule to take place on Oct. 6 against West Virginia. 

"When you break it all down, the schedule contains six conference champions from a year ago who either won a regular season or conference tournament title," Wiseman stated. "It is safe to say we will have to be at our very best every week this fall."

Butler (home-8/30), a 2017 NCAA Sweet 16 participant and Big East champion, is the first of six conference champions that the Broncos will face during the season. The five others are Illinois-Chicago (away-9/3), NCAA Second Round team Michigan (away-9/7), Green Bay (away-9/19), NCAA Second Round participant Pacific (home-9/30) and Akron (away-11/3), who defeated the Broncos in the MAC Tournament Championship game and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Semifinals.

The remaining MAC regular season schedule contains SIU-Edwardsville (away-10/13), Bowling Green (away-10/20) and Northern Illinois (home-10/27). The conference tournament is slated for Nov. 6-11.