KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's soccer team battled Mid-American Conference opponent Akron to a 1-1 draw in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the WMU Soccer Complex on Sunday afternoon. With the result, the Broncos (9-4-1, 1-0-1 MAC) remain unbeaten in their last six matches, and also remain undefeated in conference play through two games following their victory at West Virginia last Sunday. 

"It was a story of two halves today," said head coach Chad Wiseman. "Even though we scored early in the game, Akron was at its best in the first half. We felt fortunate to be level at the half."

Sophomore forward Eric Conerty scored 44 seconds into the match to give Western Michigan the early advantage on the quickest goal of the year for the Broncos. Freshmen Brennan Creek and Charlie Sharp were credited with the assists, with Creek earning his sixth of the season to surpass Max Keenan for the team lead in that category. Sharp is currently on a five match point streak, recording three goals and two assists in his run. 

Despite giving up the early goal, the Zips controlled most of the possession in the opening 45 minutes, and eventually capitalized on an opportunity in the waning moments of the first half to tie the contest at one.

With the momentum already swinging towards the Broncos in the second half, Akron defender Marco Milanese earned his second yellow card of the day to leave his team down a man the rest of the way. 

"You have to give our guys a lot of credit for their performance in the second half," remarked Wiseman. "We were able to flip the game and that's not an easy thing to do against a team like Akron. Brennan Creek and Giuseppe Vitale were outstanding for us, as they connected on passes and jump started our counters to put Akron defenders in some tough spots."

Western Michigan had the better scoring opportunities in the overtime period, which included a shot on net by senior midfielder Anthony Bowie.

"We went for the win in overtime," Wiseman said. "I thought we created the chances, but were just unable to finish one off." 

WMU led the Zips 4-3 in shots on goal and created three corner kick opportunities, with two of them coming in extra time. 

"It was a fantastic week for us," Wiseman stated. "To win at West Virginia, win at Michigan and tie Akron at home all in a seven day span is outstanding. I'm proud of my team for leaving everything they had out on the field this week."

The Broncos will continue conference action at Northern Illinois this Friday, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. from DeKalb. 

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