CLEMSON, S.C. -- It seems appropriate the hottest men's college soccer team in the nation right now will open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday…on the road.

After all, a first-round trip to Clemson for Western Michigan University feels very comfortable for a team which traveled 1,400 miles in seven days last week to beat the three Missouri Valley Conference co-champions and qualify for the postseason tournament. The Broncos shut out Northern Illinois is DeKalb, 2-0; then edged Drake, in Des Moines, Iowa, 5-4 in penalty kicks; then shut out conference No. 1 seed Evansville, (southern Indiana), 1-0 in the title game.

Starting time for the Broncos (7-9-4) at Clemson (8-5-3) is 6 p.m., and it's scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+. This is the fourth straight year WMU has qualified for the men's soccer NCAA Tournament and arguably, it is the only mid-major which has a four-peat like that.

"We're the only team with a losing record to make the tournament,'' Head Coach Chad Wiseman said. "We're going to rely on the strength of our regular season schedule, which is 20^th in the nation, the highest I've ever seen for WMU.

"There are a lot of teams who won automatic bids who are playing the 150^th to 170^th strength of schedule. I don't think there is a whole lot we haven't seen this season, but it is the NCAA Tournament and Clemson is a different animal because it has won national championships in 2021 and 2023.''

The seen-it-all part undoubtedly came in the conference final at Evansville. Graduate student defender Mathieu Beuvain from Cannes, France, who had scored just one 'official'  goal in his college career, beginning at Oklahoma Panhandle State, then transferring to Eastern New Mexico before coming to WMU this year for his final collegiate season, made the shot of his life.

"I had one goal on a penalty kick, but I had one deflected shot which was given to someone else,'' Beuvain said with a smile. "This goal against Evansville was unbelievable.''

The game was scoreless as the clock wound down in the second half, making it look like overtime and penalty kicks would decide the title. With just over 17 minutes left, WMU earned a corner kick. Wiseman decided to alter his players in the box.

"Matt has been one of the best stoppers of counter plays, but we changed things up and he was up in the box by default a little bit,'' Wiseman said.
He's one of our best ball winners, so he I felt like pushing up extra numbers.''

To say it shocked Beuvain is an understatement. "It's the first time all season Chad has had me go up on corner kicks,'' the grad student said. "He gave me a mission and I have to accomplish this mission is the way I took it.''

The video of the goal has gone viral. Braxton Arpachinda served up the ball from the corner which stayed in the air off a couple of teammates before it came to Beuvain. He hammered a perfect bicycle kick, probably one of the toughest shots to attempt in soccer, into the back of the net.

"I see the ball and I'm thinking this is my moment now,'' he said. "All I've been through at Oklahoma and New Mexico, it's not always been great, but I didn't think about anything then I saw the ball in the air and bicycle-kicked it in. The thing is, in my life, never in a game, never in practice, have I tried that kick.''

Added Wiseman: "That's not a shot you practice. We talk about when the moment comes, you've got to be able to take it. If you want to win a championship, it's going to take some special plays. I don't think it gets more special than the play Matt made.''

The thing was, there was still around 17 minutes for the No. 1 seed to tie or win the game. "For the next 17 minutes, it was the most pressure I've ever felt in a game because we're sitting back playing defense and the whole Evansville team is coming at us,'' Beuvain said. "Even its goalkeeper came up to take the corner kicks. Our goalkeeper (Alex Lindewirth) made two unbelievable saves. He had one save where he jumped and knocked it away with his left hand.''

In Cannes, where it was 4 a.m., his dad was watching the game, watching his son score an unbelievable goal on an unbelievable shot. "My Dad called right after game and I cried and he cried,'' Beuvain said.

"Right before the championship game he sent me a message. In the semifinal, I put a header over the crossbar and he said, 'This time, put your header on frame and you will score.' When I talked to him after the game, I told him it wasn't a header, but it was even better. The goal is a moment I will remember for my whole life.''

Now Beuvain and his teammates have another chance to make moments like this one. "This is my first NCAA tournament game,'' he said. "Right now, we have a lot of confidence. The team feels we can win.''

Looking at all the road wins during that seven-day stretch in the Missouri Valley tournament, anything can happen, as the Broncos play their first program match against the Tigers. While the two teams have never met, Western Michigan has played a handful of ACC teams in the Chad Wiseman era. Under Coach Wiseman, the Broncos are 2-2-1 against other ACC opponents.

WMU has mostly seen ACC teams in the NCAA Tournament over the past three years. The Brown and Gold picked up wins over Louisville and Duke in back-to-back years, while tying Notre Dame in 2023. Western Michigan only has losses to Virginia with a 2-1 loss to open the 2021 season and a 1-0 overtime loss in 2019 when the Cavaliers were ranked second in the nation. 

Similar to the Broncos, Clemson was ranked early in the season in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, staring the preseason ranked ninth. The Tigers were ranked as high as second in the third week of the season. But they eventually dropped out of the rankings on September 23rd following losses to VCU and Queens. Clemson played its last match over two weeks ago on Nov. 5, where they lost in the ACC Tournament to 13 seed Pitt 1-0. 

The Tigers have multiple scoring weapons on the field, most notably sophomore midfielder Ransford Gyan. The 5-3 midfielder from Ghana leads Clemson with eight goals and eight assists through 16 matches this season for 24 points. The ACC Midfielder of the Year is 20th in the country in assists and 16th in points per game, averaging 1.50 points through 90 minutes of play. In net, the Tigers rely on senior goalkeeper Joseph Andema, who averages 1.39 goals a match and 2.25 saves.

Thursday's match at Clemson will kick-off at 6 p.m. from Historic Riggs Stadium. Bronco fans can follow along with the team by watching the ESPN+ stream or live stats at wmubroncos.com.