AKRON, Ohio - The Western Michigan men's soccer team fell in the 2019 MAC semifinal round against West Virginia on Friday afternoon. The Mountaineers prevailed by a final score of 3-2 at the FirstEnergy Stadium on Akron's campus. 

"Congratulations to West Virginia and I wish them luck in the championship game," said head coach Chad Wiseman. 

West Virginia scored two goals in the first 45 minutes, as the Broncos found themselves with an 0-2 deficit at the half.

"Our mentality at the start of the game was wrong and we lacked toughness and awareness of what the match called for," Wiseman remarked. "They scored twice before we were able to make some personnel changes. We had two dangerous chances towards the end of the half from Sam Biek and Anthony Bowie, but we didn't have the quality in those moments to pull a goal back."

Western Michigan continued to turn up its offensive pressure in the first ten minutes of the second half, earning two free kick opportunities and three shot attempts.

In the 57th minute, senior defender Paul Liagre made an outstanding effort on a cross from redshirt freshman Jaylen Shannon, scoring his first goal of the year on a header. With the helper, Shannon earned his first point of the season. 

"In the second half we were spot on," exclaimed Wiseman. "Paul scored a great first goal on a diving header to get us back into the game."

Albert Andres-Llop put the Mountaineers back on top by two goals in the 66th minute, converting on a penalty kick.

"It was a poor defensive mistake on the penalty and it was an easy call for the official to make," Wiseman stated. 

The Broncos made a comeback bid in the final minutes of regulation as freshman defender Daniel Nimick also scored his first goal of of the 2019 campaign with 4:13 left on the clock. He became the sixth Western Michigan freshman to record a goal this year. 

"We showed fight at the end when we pulled back within a goal," said Wiseman. "Daniel took his chance at the top of the box well and congratulations to him on scoring his first collegiate goal. We made it very interesting in the last five minutes, but just could not find the equalizer."

The Broncos out-shot West Virginia in the contest by a total of 17-11, with five of those 17 shot attempts coming on the Mountaineer goal. WMU attempted at total of 12 corner kicks, compared to only three for WVU. 

Western Michigan will now wait to see if it will receive an at-large bid into the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. The selection show will take place this Monday, November 18 at 1 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on NCAA.com. 

"We have a strong resume with quality wins against some ranked opponents," Wiseman remarked. "We played a difficult schedule and went 7-3 on the road. I believe that we deserve to be in the 48 team field."

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