Men's Soccer | September 18, 2019

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - For Western Michigan senior Anthony Bowie, there was always a ball of some kind around the house when he was growing up, be it baseball, golf, basketball or soccer.

He made the right choice sticking with soccer.

In his final season with the Broncos men's soccer team, he's already notched more points (eight points on three goals and two assists) in five games than he has in any of his previous three seasons. His confidence level is obviously through the roof on a team which is 3-2 this season.

''Once you get that first goal, especially early in the season rather than the end of the season, it starts to click,'' Bowie said. ''Confidence level is way up for sure, any time you see the ball hit the back of the net.''

The scoring spurt by Bowie and the rest of the Broncos, 14 goals in five games, has put them on the national map. With an average of 2.8 goals per game, Western Michigan is seventh in the nation in goal scoring.

''In the past three years, I can't remember that we've put up five goals in a game (5-1 win over Cincinnati) and four goals two other times (4-0 shutouts of Niagara and Wisconsin Green Bay), '' the senior said.

And that's just it…he can't believe this is his final semester at Western Michigan. He'll graduate in December with a degree in Sales and Business Marketing. His perfect 4.0 grade point average made him one of the 11 first-team Academic All-Americans last season, the first such All-American in WMU history.

''I had a study abroad opportunity this past summer in Germany where I got six credits for taking a global negotiation course,'' Bowie said. ''Every summer I took six credits and then about 15 credits each semester here.''

WMU men's soccer head coach Chad Wiseman has seen that 18-year-old he recruited turn into a confident senior this season.

''When you are a freshman, sophomore or junior, you hear that time goes by quickly, so enjoy it,'' the coach said. ''He understands that and he wants to make the most of his final semester.

''Anthony also volunteers for programs in the community. He fits the blueprint exactly for the type of student athlete we want to bring into our program and into our university.''

That student athlete had several injury setbacks in high school at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, and even though he was named Michigan's Mr. Soccer in 2015, some college coaches backed off recruiting him.

''Coach Wiseman from day one was consistent about recruiting me and believing in me,'' Bowie said. ''At the time, I looked at some programs which might be better in terms of success, but it's funny that at Western, we've had the best success out of all of those schools I looked at.

''I couldn't be happier.''

That's shown on the field, too. He plays midfield on the right side and always seems to be in position to either make a pass or accept a pass and turn it into a quality scoring opportunity.

''I'm actually playing the same position as last year, but I see a lot more clear chances to score,'' Bowie said.

Which is funny because in the 5-1 win over Cincinnati, he didn't have either a goal or an assist. Also, he only played 42 of the game's 90 minutes because Wiseman used a lot of players in the game.

''We had three other strikers score and four guys who scored their first goal of the season,'' Bowie said with a smile. ''I'll take that any time.''

Wiseman has seen the maturity level skyrocket for his talented senior this season.

''He's taking better chances this year,'' the coach said. ''All those previous years, he generated a lot of chances, but he's been a bit immature in the way he has taken them, and now that he's a senior, he's more mature in his approach.

''He knows the looks he will get in a game. We think he's a first team All-Mid-American Conference performer, and for some reason in the past, he's never gotten to that level. In the past eight months, we've mapped out what his senior year is going to look like.''

It's looking pretty good so far. After he was shut out in the first game of the year, a 2-1 loss to Butler, he had two goals and an assist in a 4-0 victory over Niagara. He also had one goal and one assist in the 4-0 win over Green Bay.

''We have some good young guys around Anthony who are facilitators, like Brennan Creek who is off to a heck of a start as a freshman (two goals, three assists), and setting the table nicely for Anthony,'' Wiseman said. ''Many of the other young guys are unselfish and getting Anthony the ball in the right spots.''

That would be a soccer ball, and not a ball associated with golf, baseball or basketball.

''One summer in seventh grade, I was in travel soccer, baseball and basketball,'' Bowie said. ''That was a little too much.''