CLEVELAND – The Western Michigan men's soccer team went on the road and battled Cleveland State to a 3-3 tie in an exhibition game on Monday afternoon.
 
Twenty different Broncos saw minutes during the game, including 17 with at least 30. No overtime was played in the exhibition.
 
The Broncos picked up goals from Antonio Rizzo, Max Keenan and Mike Melaragni, while Keenan and Daniel Nimick both registered assists. Lukas Von Lienen and Ethan Brandt each played a half, with Von Lienen making four saves.
 
"I was very happy with our mentality to star the match," said head coach Chad Wiseman. "Our ball movement was outstanding and our team shape was great. I thought we scored three deserving goals."
 
WMU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the span of just over six minutes. Rizzo, assisted by Keenan, gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute. Keenan then tallied in the 18th on an assist from Nimick to push the lead to 2-0 before Melaragni put Western Michigan up 3-0 in the 19th.
 
The Vikings responded with three straight goals in the 23rd minute, 42nd and 44th.
 
"The level dropped a bit when we made some changes," added Wiseman. "I also think Cleveland State deserves some credit there as they have a couple of tricky attacking players that made some plays."
 
Neither team scored in the second half but the Broncos dominated possession and chances. WMU had six total shots in the second 45 minute, landing one on goal.
 
"I thought we bossed the game for the entirety of the second half," said Wiseman. "We just didn't capitalize on our chances."
 
"We will take the good and learn from the bad as we continue to prepare for our season opener at Virginia."
 
Western Michigan has one more exhibition game before its season-opening showdown with the Cavaliers, heading to Wright State on Saturday at 5 p.m.