KALAMAZOO, Mich. – After seeing its traditional fall season postponed, the Western Michigan men's soccer team takes the field for the first time since 2019 on Saturday in an exhibition game against Xavier on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Ind.
The game can be streamed live at
https://live.nextpro.com/event/0ba78e41-174d-4f89-37af-ec7ae3bf3cb5 for a fee of $19.99.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
WMU's 30-man roster is broken down into 13 freshmen (including three redshirts), nine sophomores (including three redshirt), five juniors and three seniors. Although the underclassmen outnumber the upper classmen, WMU's sophomore class played a significant role in the team's success last season. Sophomore
Brennan Creek was a First Team All-MAC selection after recording three goals and six assists for 12 points in 19 games. His classmate
Charlie Sharp went on to become the first student-athlete in program history to be named MAC Freshman of the Year. Sharp started 13 of the 19 games on the season and scored a team-high seven goals and added two assists for a team-best 16 points.
Redshirt sophomore goalie Issac Walker started 16 games last season, posting a 9-3-2 record with six shutouts.
RETURNING SCORING? YEAH, WE'VE GOT THAT
WMU generated 35 goals and 37 assists in last season's 19 games. The Broncos return 21 goals and 28 assists for this season's roster, including four of their top five scorers in sophomore forward
Charlie Sharp, junior forward
Eric Conerty, sophomore midfielder
Brennan Creek and sophomore midfielder
Max Keenan. The four combined for 16 goals and 17 assists.
A LOOK AT THE MUSKETEERS
Xavier has already played one exhibition game this season, falling at Bowling Green 2-0 last Saturday.
XU went 8-8-1 last season but 3-6-0 in the Big East. Xavier must replace its top two goal scorers from last season with the graduations of Samson Sergi and Karsen Henderlong. The duo combined to score 17 of the team's 24 goals. The Musketeers do have experience between the sticks in Matthew Rosenborg, who played in all 19 games last season.
TO BE DETERMINED
The Broncos don't host a game until March 14 against West Virginia. Spectator limitations due to COVID-19 have yet to be determined, but will be released to media and fans once they are.
ON THE HORIZON
Western Michigan takes some time off before its season-opener against Spring Arbor on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. The game will be played indoors at the Legacy Center in Brighton, Mich.
