GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Western Michigan men's soccer team earned its fourth consecutive victory on Wednesday, Sept. 19, defeating the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay 2-1 to improve its record to 5-4 overall on the season. 

The Broncos were led by the performances of its freshmen, with Zack Shane and Caden Jackman tallying WMU goals. Freshman goalkeeper Lukas Von Lienen recorded a season-high six saves while earning his fourth win of the season in net. 

"Gutsy performance from the men tonight," said head coach Chad Wiseman. "Not our best performance of the year, certainly Green Bay factored into that but the men found a way to win on the road." 

Western Michigan found the back of the net first, early on into the match. Zack Shane scored his second goal in as many games, converting on a Tommy Clark corner kick just under ten minutes in to take the 1-0 lead. 

The Brown & Gold took its one-goal advantage into the break, leading 11-5 in shots while corner kicks were knotted at 3-3. 

"In the first half we came out very strong, really took the game to them and scored a nice goal off a set piece," Wiseman commented. "We had a couple other dangerous chances and two really dangerous free kicks but we couldn't reward ourselves with a second goal."  

After receiving a pair of yellow cards, the Broncos conceded a goal 21 minutes into the second half as the home team scored on a free kick to tie the game at 1-1. 

"We were up against it from the start in the second half," said Wiseman. "Green Bay was able to get the ball in good wide areas and we had to defend for long stretches. We gave up what I thought was a soft goal and sometimes that can be game over."  

Another Bronco freshman stepped up in the final 10 minutes of the match. At the 81st minute mark, Caden Jackman scored the game-winning goal for his first collegiate tally, assisted by Mike Melaragni and Paul Liagre. 

"I am proud of our leadership to drive back at Green Bay and find a game winner. Congrats to Caden on his first career goal. Two freshmen with goals, that's great stuff. We turn our attention now to alumni weekend and welcoming all our former Bronco soccer players to Kalamazoo. We have a great lineup of events for them," Wiseman concluded. 

Western Michigan has the weekend off and returns to action next Wednesday, Sept. 26, hosting Detroit Mercy at WMU Soccer Complex. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m.