DETROIT, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's soccer team extended its program record winning streak to nine games after a 4-0 road thrashing of Detroit Mercy on Wednesday night.
Charlie Sharp tallied twice, while WMU (9-1, 3-0 MAC) also picked up goals from Jordan Walker and Daniel Nimick. Hunter Morse needed to make just one save to earn the shutout. The Broncos outshot the Titans 21-6 on the night with a 13-1 advantage in shots on goal.
"When you start each half finding a goal in the opening minutes it makes things very challenging for your opponent," said head coach Chad Wiseman. "We want to win the state of Michigan every year. That's one of our goals."
Sharp wasted no time picking up where he left off after his four-goal performance against Chicago State. Western Michigan had a two-on-one rush with Mike Melaragni leading the charge. He passed it off to Sharp inside the left side of the box and Sharp placed the ball into the bottom right corner for his seventh goal of the season. Melaragni tallied his second assist of the year on the eventual game-winning goal.
WMU kept up the pressure but didn't find the back of the net again until the 47th minute, when Sharp struck again. Jonathan Robinson fired a rocket on goal from just outside the box. UDM keeper Jonathan Kliewer made the save but Sharp was there to punch in the rebound, extending WMU's lead to 2-0.
"The second half we were really on our game," added Wiseman. "We moved the ball, found good times to switch the point of attack and created a lot of good scoring chances."
Western Michigan pushed the lead to 3-0 on Walker's first career goal in the 79th minute. Robinson served the ball in from the left flank and Walker headed it in. The assist was Robinson's third of the season.
"A big congratulations to Jordan on finding his first career goal," Wiseman said. "He has been earning more and more minutes as the season has progressed."
Nimick added his goal in the 88th minute on a free kick from approximately 40 yards out. The senior centerback stepped up to the ball and sent a looping shot into the top-right corner of the goal.
Western Michigan resumes Mid-American Conference play on Sunday at Northern Illinois with a 4:30 p.m. kickoff. The Broncos then return home to host rival Akron on Thursday at 4 p.m.
