DEKALB, Ill. – The Western Michigan women's soccer team picked up its first victory of the season as it opened Mid-American Conference play with a 2-0 win at Northern Illinois on Thursday night.
 
The Broncos (1-4-3, 1-0 MAC) picked up goals from fifth-year senior defender Kai Sugiyama and sophomore midfielder Emily Pagett. Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Hannah Sargent made three saves to pick up her first win and shutout of the season. WMU outshot NIU 12-5 overall and 6-3 on goal.
 
"I'm very proud of our players tonight for showing so much togetherness in a difficult game," said head coach Lewis Robinson, who picked up his first career win at the helm. "Defensively we worked extremely hard and stayed organized. We know that whenever we can do that, we will always create chances going forward. Our non-conference has been very challenging but the team showed tonight we have learned a lot of valuable lessons along the way and we hope to continue this into our conference play, now."
 
Western Michigan got on the scoreboard early thanks to Sugiyama's first collegiate goal in the 13th minute. The left back got the ball after intercepting a clearance attempt by NIU. She fired a shot from 25-yards out that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced into the net.
 
WMU took its 1-0 lead into the second half, when Pagett netted her first collegiate goal pushed it to 2-0 in the 65th minute. Pagett got the ball on a feed by Bria Telemaque and dribbled it into the box to fire it into the upper-left 90 to push the Broncos ahead 2-0.
 
The combination of WMU's defensive effort and ability to maintain possession saw the game out to victory.
 
Western Michigan returns home to host Bowling Green on Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission is free and the game can be watched live for free at www.wmubroncos.com/watch.