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Head coach
Chad Wiseman couldn't be happier that in the recently released final national men's soccer rankings, his Western Michigan University team was ranked 14th in the nation by College Soccer News.
The Broncos finished the season with a 16-3-2 overall record, winning the final Mid-American Conference postseason tournament (the league is discontinuing its sponsorship of men's soccer) and going on to win two NCAA tournament matches, 2-1 over Louisville and 1-0 over Lipscomb, both on the road, to make the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017. Next season, WMU will be part of the 10-team Missouri Valley Conference in soccer. Also joining the conference for soccer are MAC schools Northern Illinois and Bowling Green.
What makes the 10-year WMU coach really, really proud is the academic success the Broncos have had, not only in this past season but in the team's history.
"During the season of Fall 2021 to Spring of 2022, we had a team grade point average of 3.62, which was the second-highest in the nation in Division I soccer," Wiseman said. "Then this past semester (Fall 2022), we had a team GPA of 3.62 again.
"One thing I'm really proud of is that everyone values their education. That goes into the type of young men we try to recruit. We want to win championships, but as a collegiate coach, it is my responsibility to help them understand how to keep their priorities in order.
"No. 1 is to work towards graduation, then we work hard on the soccer field. That culture has been in our program for a long time."
On the pitch, things went well for Western Michigan, starting with senior
Daniel Nimick who was a Second Team All-American. Nimick was picked by Vancouver FC in the second round of the Major League Soccer draft. Nimick, a defender, helped the Broncos to have the best defense in the nation, as the Broncos gave up just 10 goals in 21 games, two of which came in the first game of the season, a 2-0 loss to Butler.
Nimick is the fourth All-American in Western Michigan men's soccer history.
Defender
Carson Hodgson was named a Freshman All-American by College Soccer News.
On the all-region team, WMU had a team-record of five players. Nimick, senior goalkeeper
Hunter Morse, and senior forward
Charlie Sharp were First Team selections, senior midfielder
Eric Conerty was selected to the Second Team and senior defender
Jaylen Shannon was named to the Third Team.
The All-MAC team was also dominated by the Broncos. Nimick was named the conference's Most Valuable Player, Morse was selected as the top goalkeeper and Hodgson was picked as the Freshman of the Year. Seven Western Michigan players were named to All-MAC teams with Sharp, Conerty, and Nimick on the First Team and Morse, Shannon, senior
Mike Melaragni, and senior
Dylan Sing on the Second Team.
Since Wiseman has been coaching at WMU, the school has had 26 First Team All-MAC selections. In the 17 years before Wiseman arrived, Western Michigan had 13 First Team honorees.
Besides Nimick being drafted, Morse was picked by FC Cincinnati in the second round and Sharp was drafted by Toronto FC in the third round. Also, Conerty and
Matt Lockwood are set to sign United Soccer League (USL) contracts.
Academically, the Broncos also excelled. Two college soccer organizations – United Soccer Coaches and the College Sports Communicators – named a total of seven WMU players as Academic All-Americans. Nimick, Sharp, and Conerty made the USC list, and Sing, Sharp, Melaragni, and
Jonathan Robinson were named by CSC.
"Seven is the most we've had in one year and we've had 15 in the past five years," Wiseman said.Â
Eight Broncos made the Academic All-MAC Team. They are Robinson, Shannon, Sing, Nimick, Conerty, Melaragni, Sharp, and
Jordan Walker.
"You look at our academic success over the years and I think it trumps our athletic success," Wiseman, who has never had a losing season in all his years of coaching college, high school, and club teams. "When soccer ends, the job opportunities they land and what they will be doing, I think, will be very impressive.
"When they are CEOs, or doctors, or engineers, they get 10-12 years from when they graduated from Western Michigan, they will be proud to be a Bronco when they return to watch matches."
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