CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Western Michigan men's soccer team got back in the win column following a 1-0 victory at Xavier in Cincinnati, Ohio. With the result, the Broncos, who had lost their last two matches in overtime, improve to 5-4 overall on the season. WMU now has four shutout wins in 2019, which already matches its total from last year.

"Great road victory from the men tonight," said seventh year head coach Chad Wiseman. "Xavier is a very talented team and this isn't an easy place to come and get a result at, especially coming off two overtime losses, but our leaders stepped up and made sure that we didn't have another setback." 

The Broncos and Musketeers battled to a scoreless draw in the first 45 minutes, with Western Michigan earning two shot attempts on goalkeeper Matthew Rosenberg, including a scoring opportunity from sophomore transfer forward Eric Conerty in the final five minutes of the half.

"Eric had a great all around game today," Wiseman stated. "I'm very excited to see his growth within our program." 

In the 72^nd minute, senior midfielder Anthony Bowie scored the eventual game winner off a pass from freshman defender Max Keenan. It was Bowie's team-leading fourth goal of the season and Kennan's team best fifth assist. 

The best equalizing opportunity for the Musketeers came in the 82^nd minute following a corner kick. The first shot attempt by Jacob Goodall was blocked by the Western Michigan defense, but the rebound went right to the foot of Davis Eddelman. Eddelman got a clean strike away, however redshirt freshman goalkeeper Isaac Walker made an outstanding save, outstretching his arms to get just enough of the ball to deflect it safely away from his net.  

The Broncos defense was on high alert in the second half, staving off five corner kick opportunities by the Musketeers to secure the victory. 

Walker made four saves between the pipes for Western Michigan to pick up his third complete game shutout of 2019. 

Despite trailing by a slim margin of 12-10 on the shot chart to Xavier on the evening, the Broncos had six attempts on goal to the Musketeers' four. 

"Our depth was the difference maker tonight," Wiseman said. "We went 18 players deep while Xavier used most of its starters for the duration of the match."

Western Michigan will welcome #22 Loyola Marymount to the WMU Soccer Complex this Sunday for Alumni Weekend.

"It's always great to head into Alumni Weekend with a win," exclaimed Wiseman. "We're looking forward to welcoming all our alumni in for a great weekend of events capped off with a match against a top 25 team."

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