KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan men's soccer team will try to start its first win streak of 2025 on Friday night with its first game of Missouri Valley Conference play against the Belmont Bruins.

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos returned to the win column in their return home to the WMU Soccer Complex on Monday evening. Despite an almost 45-minute weather delay, the Western Michigan offense didn't miss a beat against Division III Adrian with a large 9-0 win.

The Broncos saw seven different players log a goal against the Bulldogs on Monday, including two braces for forwards Piero Sabroso and Jonathan Stout. With multiple goals for Sabroso and Stout, the two forwards moved into the Top 10 in goal scorers in the MVC with three goals on the season. 

A DECADE SCORING OPPORTUNITY
The nine goals scored on Monday night against Adrian was the highest scoring game for WMU in a decade. Before Monday night, Western Michigan hadn't scored nine goals in a match in program history. The Broncos had an eight goal game against St. Bonaventure in 2015 and was the last time the team had scored above seven goals.

But the nine goals on Monday night for WMU became the program's fifth highest-scoring match. The Brown and Gold also added nine assists against the Bulldogs for the program's fifth-most assists in a match. Western Michigan's most assists in a match since September 22 was 12 assists against Olivet last season on October 1. 

MVC MOBILIZING
Friday afternoon will be the Broncos first conference match of 2025. Over the past two years in the Missouri Valley Conference, WMU has had an impressive 10-1-5 record in conference play along with the 2023 MVC Regular Season and Tournament Championships. The only regular season conference loss Western Michigan has had in the past two years was to Bowling Green last season, a team the Broncos have seen in conference play since the MAC sponsored men's soccer.

WMU starts MVC play by welcoming Belmont to The Farm on Friday afternoon. The Brown and Gold have earned a result in both of their games against the Bruins in the past two seasons with a tie last year in Nashville 1-1 and a 5-0 win in 2023. But it will be a bit of a different situation on Friday as Belmont comes into Kalamazoo as one of three MVC teams without a loss on the season. 

SCOUTING THE BRUINS
Belmont begins conference play with it's best program start as they remain unbeaten through eight matches this season. The Bruins have five wins and three draws on 2025 so far, with their draws coming to Bellarmine, Northern Kentucky, and Presbyterian. Belmont is now one of only 21 unbeaten teams left in the country, along with fellow MVC teams UIC and Drake. 

The Bruins have the current MVC Offensive Player of the Week in freshman midfielder Paul Claes Nielsen. In two matches last week, Nielsen scored his first career goal while also assisting on three of Belmont's five goals. The Bruins offense has been a powerhouse so far this season, outscoring their opponents 13-4 through eight matches.