KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Despite the freezing temperature and the torrential downpour this afternoon, the Western Michigan men's soccer team set a new record for consecutive games without a loss in Saturday's 3-0 win over Drake.
"First, I would like to thank our landscaping and facility crews, lead by Aaron Dykstra, we had over three inches of rain, and our game field played fantastic. On behalf of our entire program we appreciate your efforts." said head coach Chad Wiseman Saturday.
In the victory, forward captain Charlie Sharp returned from his nearly two game absence and set the tone early for the Broncos. With less than 10 minutes into the game, Sharp would score the game winning goal off of assists from Jonathan Robinson and Jaylen Shannon to give the Brown and Gold an early lead. Nearly four minutes later, Sharp would strike again, this time off of a penalty kick to seal the game away for good to complete his third multi-scoring game of the season.
"It's nice to have Sharp back in the lineup and it's nice to secure another shutout. I am very pleased with the team's performance today", noted head coach Wiseman. Overall, the men's soccer team has completed eight shutouts in 13 games this season, which is ranked the fourth most shutouts in a season in WMU program history.
As the first half winded down, Tom Cooklin extended his points streak to a second consecutive game, a personal best with the Broncos, with a goal in the 41st minute to give Western Michigan a 3-0 advantage entering halftime.
"Shout out to the entire team for breaking a single season unbeaten streak, that's impressive," Credited Wiseman. The Brown and Gold are heading into peak form as the regular season winds down by scoring at least three goals in back-to-back games for the second time this season. Previously, the Broncos had scored three goals in consecutive games in their 5-4 win over Dayton on September 10 and their 5-0 victory over Detroit Mercy on September 13. Furthermore, the Broncos have not trailed for a single second in nearly a month. The last time the Broncos trailed in a contest was during the 17:52-19:54 portion of the first half versus Villanova on Tuesday, September 19th.
"Credit to Drake, their players, staff, and their fight and effort over the 90 minutes was there today", said Wiseman.
Historical Notes
The men's soccer team continued their undefeated run after losing to #12 ranked University of Vermont on August 24, almost two months ago. Western Michigan has now completed 12 games without a loss enroute to setting a new program record for consecutive matches without a defeat. The record was previously set during the 1983-84 and 2017 seasons with 11 games without a loss. Additionally, Sharp's two goals this afternoon pushed him to 32 career goals. He is now two goals away from tying Dan Edwards (1991-94) for the all-time goal scoring record for the Brown and Gold.
Today, Dylan Sing's scoring record of consecutive games with a goal concluded in the win. Sing now holds the program record goal-scoring streak with eight straight games with a goal which started on Sunday, September 10, versus Dayton and concluded on Wednesday October 11 against Oakland. During his goal scoring streak, Sing averaged 1.25 goals per contest.
"Dylan's goal streak comes to an end, what impressive streak it was where he often times carried the team on his back. Time for him to start a new one! Homecoming week has been full of Bronco wins and we were able to add to that today." concluded Wiseman.
Up Next
The Brown and Gold will conclude their three game homestand on Wednesday, October 18, at 4:00 PM versus Northern Illinois Univeristy at WMU Soccer Complex. Live Stats and livestream information are available under the men's soccer schedule.
