KALAMAZOO, Mich. – #12 Western Michigan University men's soccer team begins the 2024 campaign Thursday, August 22, at 5:30 PM against #14 University of Vermont at WMU Soccer Complex. Thursday's match will be available on ESPN+. For tickets, visit
https://wmubroncos.evenue.net/events/SOC.
New Faces at WMU
After the departure of over 10 upperclassmen including Charlie Sharp, Dylan Sing, Ethan Brandt, Jonathan Robinson, Will Perkins, and Jaylen Shannon, head coach Chad Wiseman has revamped and overhauled his roster with freshman additions and transfers alike. This offseason, Wiseman acquired a plethora of veteran experience with graduate students, forward
Greyson Mercer, defenders
Asher Barnes,
Donal Rahill,
David Ogbonna, and midfielder
Owen Smith. In the backline, Wiseman would add depth behind defenders, senior
Duarte Chapelas, junior
Emiel Nieuwhof, and sophomore
Carter Cormier to the 2024 roster. To round out his roster, Wiseman tapped into the high school graduating class of 2024 with the acquisitions of
Gabe Villagomez,
John Coon,
Liam Smith,
Jordan Klein, and
Adam Matej Smolcic.
Team Captain Landon Fisher
Graduate student midfielder Landon Fisher returns to the WMU men's soccer program for his sixth season. This summer, Fisher was named team captain after matching a personal best 21 appearances and notching a career-high three assists for the Brown and Gold in 2023. Fisher was a key piece of Western Michigan's 2023 NCAA Sweet 16 run and supplied a clutch assist in the overtime win over Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. His assist would help advance the Brown and Gold to a second consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. The 2023 season marked the first time in program history that the men's soccer team would play in back to back Sweet 16's. This preseason, Fisher has taken charge as a vocal leader on the field and has organized the Brown and Gold into a cohesive unit.
Recent Preseason Recognition
This Tuesday WMU junior midfielder Carson Hodgson and sophomore forward Noah James were tabbed with TopDrawerSoccer Preseason Top 50 recognition. This year, Hodgson will begin the 2024 campaign ranked 40th in the nation, while James will follow as the 46th-best player in the country. WMU is the only team in the Missouri Valley Conference to feature two players inside TopDrawerSoccer's National Preseason Top 50 rankings.
Scouting the Catamounts
This season Vermont was selected as preseason favorites in the America East Conference for the first time since 2008. Vermont features six of a possible 11 Preseason All-Conference student athletes in Max Murray, Adrian Schulze Solano, Sydney Wathuta, Zach Barrett, and Nick Lockermann, and redshirt senior forward Yaniv Bazini. Last season Bazini led the Catamounts in scoring with 11 goals and added four assists in 19 games.
Chasing History
Coach Wiseman, fresh off of back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances, begins the 2024 campaign three victories away from owning the program's all-time coaching wins title, which has been held by Blake Glass (1983-1997, 125 wins) since 1996.
A win over the Catamounts would capture the Brown and Gold's first season-opening win in three years. The Brown and Gold's last season-opening victory was against Butler on February 17, 2021.
Series History
Thursday's contest between the Catamounts and the Broncos will mark the third-ever meeting in series history. The Broncos trail the Catamounts 0-1-1 and are looking to even the series up with a victory at WMU Soccer Complex.
For all things WMU men's soccer, make sure to follow the team on Instagram, @wmu_menssoccer, X, @WMUMensSoccer, and Facebook, @wmumenssoccer.
