KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's soccer team dropped its first Mid-American Conference contest of the season, falling 1-0 to Akron at the WMU Soccer Complex on Thursday. 
 
The Broncos were unable to find the back of the net despite ten total shots with five on goal. The lone goal came in the 25th minute by Akron's junior Joel Sangwa with a ball from Jason Shokalook.
 
"I thought it was a really competitive college soccer match. In the first half, Akron had some extended periods where they had us unbalanced and chasing a little bit.  We did a great job of not giving up much in our defensive third. That being said, I thought the goal we conceded was soft, in that moment we have to do better in our box if you want to defeat a top 25 team," said coach Chad Wiseman.
 
"We could have done a better job paying attention to the tactical details."
 
The Zips' goal came off a restart that was back-heel kicked to Sangwa from Shokalook just outside the 6 yard-box after a Bronco scramble resulted in a failed clearance attempt. 
 
WMU turned the pressure up in the second half, outshooting the Zips 6-0, but were unable to find the net.
 
"Second half I thought we were very good to the point where we dominated long stretches.  Unfortunately for us, we were not able to create many dangerous scoring chances." 
 
The Broncos outshot Akron 10-5, with a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal. Several Western Michigan players recorded shots: Jonathan Robinson, Eric Conerty, Mike Melaragni, and Charlie Sharp all tallied two. While Dylan Sing and Matt Lockwood each tallied one. Graduate transfer, Hunter Morse tallied two saves in the matchup.
 
"Overall, I thought the players left everything they had on the field. Akron is a talented team that has beaten many good teams this year, we will need to learn from this match and be better the second time around, later in the season." 
 
Western Michigan is back at it Tuesday, Oct. 18 on the road at Oakland University with a 7 p.m. kickoff.