KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The 2018 Western Michigan men's soccer team is set to open its 48^th year of competition on Friday, Aug. 24, hosting the University of Loyola Chicago at 5 p.m. from WMU Soccer Complex.
 
A year ago
 
The Broncos enter the 2018 season coming off a 17-4-1 overall and undefeated 5-0-0 Mid-American Conference record last year, having the most success in program history. WMU was ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation, finishing No. 9, and earned its first MAC regular season title and first NCAA Tournament win.  
 
Western Michigan fell in the third round of the NCAA Tournament versus Michigan State and despite losing a strong group due to graduation, the Broncos bring back a crowd of players with solid experience.
 
Lost to graduation included Brandon Bye, an All-American MLS draft pick (8th overall), the 2017 MAC Player of the Year and the National Men's Soccer Scholar Athlete of the Year, All-Region and three-time All-MAC defender Zach Bock, an All-American MLS draft pick (46th overall) goalkeeper in Drew Shepherd, and First Team All-Conference selection Jay McIntosh.

"Life after Bye, Bock, and Shepherd, to put it frankly is going to be different," said head coach Chad Wiseman, the 2017 MAC Coach of the Year, who enters his sixth season at the helm of the WMU men's soccer program having compiled a 54-30-14 overall record. "Finding a way to replace their leadership will be our most difficult task." 
 
"We have a big senior class, with seven or eight players depending on how you look at it. "We return a lot of experience, players that have been mentored under some of the best Bronco players of all time and players that have played in some of the biggest Bronco matches of all time. We have guys that are ready to call this 2018 team their team."


 
In the polls
 
The United Soccer Coaches Division I preseason poll, released Aug. 7, had the Broncos ranked No. 14 in the nation. WMU was also ranked No. 8 by Top Drawer Soccer and came in at No. 14 in the College Soccer News Top 30 poll. In the MAC preseason poll, Western Michigan was projected to finish second while receiving one vote to capture the regular season crown. Akron, the reigning MAC Tournament champions, was selected to finish first in the conference standings.  
 
2018 Schedule
 
WMU opens an 18-game schedule on Friday, Aug. 24 versus the University of Loyola-Chicago. Ten matchups will take place in Kalamazoo at the WMU Soccer Complex, in which all games are free admission.
 
Conference play will begin with a home match during homecoming against West Virginia Oct. 6. The conference tournament will then begin a month later Nov. 6.
 
The Broncos will face three teams ranked inside the Top 20 in several 2018 preseason polls, including five that finished within the Top 50 of the RPI rankings last season. No. 9 Butler, No. 27 Pacific, and Xavier (RV) will all visit WMU Soccer Complex, while the Broncos will travel to No. 21 Michigan and No. 4 Akron.

Two home matches will be streamed by the ESPN family of networks. Oct. 9 versus Oakland will be broadcasted on ESPN3 and Oct. 16 against Xavier on ESPN Plus, along with the final regular season match at Akron (Nov. 3), on ESPN3. Home matches versus Loyola (Aug. 24), Detroit Mercy (Sept. 26), Pacific (Sept. 30), and Northern Illinois (Oct. 27) will be streamed through wmubroncos.com.
 
"As a staff, we feel that we can compete with any team in the country," Wiseman said. "Our schedule is very difficult and we will have to be ready every time out. Managing expectations will be extremely important for our team this year. We have a mature team with several fifth-year seniors, so those guys will help us keep things in perspective. This is a fun group of guys to be around daily, I am looking forward to seeing what they can accomplish together." 
 
Roster Breakdown
 
WMU returns 16 players from last year's squad while adding 12 newcomers this offseason. Notably returning for the Broncos includes seniors Tommy Clark, Kosti Moni, Jake Rufe, and Ben Thornton. Clark was a First Team All-MAC and All-Region award winner while the trio of Moni, Rufe, and Thornton were all members of the All-MAC Second Team last season.
 
"We will lean heavily on those guys to show us the way early in the season," Wiseman spoke of the returning All-Conference players. "They are very talented and can play with the very best players in the nation."
 
Among the newcomers includes 10 freshmen, headlined by the 2017 Michigan Mr. Soccer award winner Mike Melaragni. Transfers Paul Liagre from Northeastern Junior College (Colo.) and Brendan Skinner from Marquette round out the newcomer group.

After losing Drew Shepherd, a quartet of goalkeepers will look to take his place. Redshirt senior Elijah Michaels leads the group as the sole returner with one collegiate start under his belt, in which he shut out No. 8 Akron last season and earned MAC Co-Player of the Week. The Broncos added three freshmen goalkeepers to the mix this offseason in Eric Cotton, Lukas Von Lienen, and Isaac Walker.
 
"Competition is at an all-time high in my tenure. We have returning starters fighting to keep their spots and we have a healthy competition happening in camp for the positions open due to graduation. It should be an exciting team to watch, we're very athletic and have explosive athletes all over the field with size as well. I really think we have four or five players that have the chance to really break out this season."