KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's soccer team used a four-goal second half to claim its first victory of the 2019 campaign Sunday at the WMU Soccer Complex. A crowd of nearly 700 followed the team's annual Soccer Fest and enjoyed senior forward Anthony Bowie scoring twice for the Broncos to propel them to a 4-0 shutout of Niagara.

"A big thank you goes out to Allison Frontczak and her staff for putting on the biggest and best Bronco Soccer Fest to date," WMU head coach Chad Wiseman said. "The community came out in big numbers; that is fun to see. We had great performances for our guys today. I thought we really controlled the game and created many good scoring chances in each half."
 
Western Michigan controlled play in the first half, outshooting Niagara 10-1, but was were unable to find the back of the net. The Broncos continued to dominate possession in the second half, with Bowie giving them the 1-0 lead in the 50th minute off assists from freshman Brennan Creek and redshirt junior Matheus Lima. Bowie scored his second goal of the contest in the 64th minute, putting away a ball that was deflected off a Purple Eagle defender.

"It was really nice to see Bowie take his chances; he had himself a day," Wiseman added.

Creek extended the Bronco lead to three, handling a cross into the box from Bowie and striking it past Niagara goalkeeper Nick Burke. The goal was the first of Kalamazoo native Creek's Bronco career.

"We were pressing in the first half, we just couldn't click in the final third," Bowie said. "The second half, we got a little bit of luck to create the first goal. After that, we were rolling. I think it gives a lot of guys confidence. It was really good for the team. We have some really talented freshmen and guys who redshirted last year. We're really excited for them. We know they're ready for this moment. They definitely showed it today so that was really good." 

In the 80th minute, redshirt sophomore Dalton Michael picked up his first career goal as a Bronco with redshirt freshman Antonio Rizzo earning the assist to make it a 4-0 advantage for the home side.

"A big congratulations to both Dalton and Brennan on scoring their first goals in a Bronco uniform," Wiseman said. "I hope our fans enjoyed the game. This team is exciting. We're going to need everybody's support all season long."

The Western Michigan defense held the Purple Eagles to just four shots overall, giving up only one corner kick on the afternoon. Offensively, the Broncos generated an impressive 23 shot attempts and earned 10 corner kicks. WMU redshirt freshman goalkeeper Isaac Walker saved all three Niagara shots on net in his season debut.

Western Michigan will continue home action this Friday when it welcomes DePaul to Kalamazoo. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. with a live stream available on WMUBroncos.com.

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