CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Western Michigan women's soccer team picked up its first win of the season after blanking Cincinnati, 1-0, on the road at Gettler Stadium on Sunday night.
 
The Broncos (1-2) struck early on a goal by Morgan Otteson after waiting 45 minutes to start the game due to a lightning delay. After the goal, WMU limited the Bearcats to just two chances on goal and both were stopped by junior goalkeeper Maggie Rogers. It was the first collegiate win for Rogers and the first collegiate coaching victory for interim head coach Sammy Boateng.
 
UC outshot the Broncos 11-5 overall, but WMU had a 3-2 advantages in shots on goal. Western Michigan also led in corner kicks, 7-4.
 
"This had the intensity of a conference game," said Boateng. "From the front to the back, it was a great team effort. Maggie did a great job communicating with everyone and Morgan did an awesome job pressing and showed great composure on her finish. Lydia Bajema played the whole 90 minutes and did all the dirty work in the midfield that not everyone always wants to do. We also had Grace Labadie and Hannah Kahn providing a lot of pressure on the wings. Our substitutes came in and played with the same intensity. It was a full team effort."
 
Otteson netted her second goal of the season in the 18th minute. She pressed Cincinnati's back line and forced a turnover before burying the shot into the net for the unassisted game-winning goal.
Thanks to the work of WMU's back line of Savannah Bosworth, Rachel Royer, Emily Dahl and Kai Sugiyama, Rogers had to make just one save in each half.
 
Western Michigan now heads out Colorado to play Colorado College at the Air Force Academy on Friday at 9 p.m. The Broncos then take on Air Force on Sunday at 2 p.m.