KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan University men's soccer team opened the 2024 NCAA Tournament with a dominant 5-1 victory over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Thursday afternoon. Graduate student forward Greyson Mercer scored a game-high two goals, while graduate student midfielder Owen Smith, redshirt freshman defender Christian Shannon, and graduate student defender Duarte Chapelas scored one goal each in the victory.
"Congratulations to SIUE. They had a tremendous year winning multiple championships. They are a talented program." said WMU men's soccer head coach Chad Wiseman following the victory.
The men's soccer team shot off to an electric start Thursday, with Smith netting WMU's first goal 2:45 into the contest. "What a start from the Broncos. We really wanted to come out on our front foot and pin them back and I thought we did exactly that," said Wiseman.
WMU entered the halftime break with a comfortable lead after redshirt freshman Christian Shannon scored in the 38th minute to increase the Bronco advantage.
"Scoring five goals in an NCAA Tournament game is very impressive. Our mentality on the day was spot on, I credit that to our leaders."
The Brown and Gold completed their five-goal scoring barrage with three goals in the final 45 minutes of the match. Less than five minutes into the second half, Mercer scored his first goal of the day from assisting teammates, sophomore Noah James and Smith. Only 11 and a half minutes after Mercer's first goal, the forward would score again, this time from assisting teammates, Smith, and Emil Nieuwhof, to extend the Bronco lead to four.
After 70 minutes of play, SIUE scored their lone goal of the contest to cut into the Bronco lead at 4-1.
"If you want to be a top team, I believe you have to be able to win games in different ways. I think we have shown that throughout the season and again today. The blue-collar in us really showed up today, it was fun to watch."
The Broncos dominated defensively and limited SIUE to a total of six shots on target over the entirety of the contest. Thursday afternoon marked the 18th time over the season's 20 contests thus far, that the men's soccer team limited opponents to one goal or fewer.
After conceding a goal just shy of 20 minutes remaining in the match, WMU responded and scored their fifth goal of the game in the 82nd minute, compliments of Chapelas. During the goal, Asher Barnes and Carson Hodgson were credited with assists.
"Our program will never take these moments for granted, playing and winning NCAA tournament games at The Farm is an experience these boys will always carry with them. We now get the opportunity to play the number one team in the nation. We're really looking forward to that and we know we will have to elevate our game to another level."
Historical Notes
WMU set a new NCAA Tournament single-game program record with five goals scored.
The Broncos have won three straight first-round games in the NCAA Tournament and have reached the second round for the third consecutive year. Both feats serve as program records.
The Brown and Gold's 5-1 victory today marked the program's largest margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament match.
Hodgson is now tied with Kai Mendez (2009-11) and Steve Bibi (1994-97) for the fifth most career assists created in program history with 20.
Up Next
The Brown and Gold will travel to Columbus, Ohio to face one seed Ohio State University on Sunday, November 24. Kickoff is scheduled at 5:00 PM and the match will be available on ESPN+.
