CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Western Michigan men's soccer team used three first-half tallies to earn its first road victory of the season, winning 3-1 during a midweek road match at the University of Cincinnati on Wednesday, Sept. 12, improving its overall record to 3-4.

It took 30 minutes into the first half for the Broncos to record a season-high with three goals as Kosti Moni notched his second goal of the game and team-leading fourth of the season, on a penalty kick. 

Moni scored his first goal of the game just six and a half minutes into the match, receiving the ball outside the center of the box and finishing in the right corner. Cameron Sipple and Zack Shane were credited with the assists. Moni's two-goal performance stands as the first in his career. 

Ben Thornton notched his second goal of the season at the 20 minute mark, heading in a corner kick from Sipple as WMU gained a 2-0 lead. Cincinnati and Western Michigan traded goals within the following 10 minutes to make the score 3-1 in the Brown & Gold's favor, where the score stood for the rest of the match. 

"We were very sharp the opening half," said head coach Chad Wiseman. "We really stuck to our game plan and rewarded ourselves with three goals. The goals came in different ways as well and we were really starting to take our chances better in the final third." 

In the first 45', the Broncos held a 8-5 shot advantage along with a 4-0 corner kick lead, but the Bearcats came out strong in the second half to gain the lead in both categories. 

The home team generated six corner kick opportunities and outshot Western Michigan 8-2 in the second half. Cincinnati kept the pressure on the WMU defense throughout the remainder of the match, forcing goalkeeper Lukas Von Lienen to come up with several big saves. 

"In the second half, I thought we got away from what we wanted to do," Wiseman said. "I thought Cincinatti played with more commitment and energy. We showed great leadership though to see out the result. When you score three goals you should expect to win, that's what we did. Our first road victory, it's important to show and prove you can win on the road."

Despite the pushback from the Bearcats, the Broncos held on for their second-straight victory. Von Lienen made three saves for his second win of the season in net, improving his record to 2-1-0. 

Up next, Western Michigan returns to WMU Soccer Complex on Saturday, Sept. 15 to host the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.

"UMBC comes to town Saturday, they're another top 30 team on our schedule, it's going to be a great test for our guys," Wiseman concluded.