KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan University men's soccer team will play its first home match against a conference opponent in the UIC Flames at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night. 

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan found an equalizing goal in the second half to earn a point in a 1-1 tie against the Detroit Mercy Titans.

The Bronco offense exploded for 17 shots and a goal in the second half of Tuesday night's match after falling behind late in the first. Junior forward Vitor Geromel scored his fifth goal of the season to help WMU earn a result against the Titans. Helping on the score was junior midfielder Josh Veychek for his first point in a Western Michigan uniform and sophomore midfielder Liam Biggers. 
 
MITTEN UNBEATEN STREAK
With the Brown and Gold's draw against Detroit Mercy on Tuesday night, Western Michigan has now gone 20 straight matches without a loss to another Michigan team. The Broncos current unbeaten streak over other Division I in-state teams stretches back almost eight full seasons to 2018. 

WMU last fell to an in-state opponent on September 7, 2018 in overtime at Michigan. The Wolverines were ranked 21st in the nation at the time and the Brown and Gold pushed them into seven additional minutes of action. Western Michigan last lost to another Michigan team in regulation the season before, a 1-0 decision with Michigan State on October 4 2017. 

FIRST TIME WEEKLY HONORS
Tuesday morning midfielder Jordan Klein was named the MVC Defender of the Week while goalkeeper Alex Lindewirth was named the MVC Goalkeeper of the Week. Tuesday was the first career weekly honor for both players following the first conference match of the year. 

Klein helped WMU's defense hold the Bowling Green Falcons scoreless in a 1-0 shutout win. Klein and the defense blocked six of the Falcons 19 shots and Klein played a full 90 minutes. He also recorded only his second shot on goal of the season in the 50th minute.

Lindewirth had another stellar performance for the Brown and Gold with his second shutout of the season. It was a light first half for Lindewirth, who only had to save one shot and see three others through 45 minutes. But it was a much busier final 45 minutes as Lindewirth faced 12 shots while making five more saves to end the match with six saves.

FIVE IN TEN
Junior forward Vitor Geromel has become an offensive force both for Western Michigan and across the country. In Tuesday night's match at Detroit Mercy, Geromel recorded his fifth goal of the season to lead the Broncos by three scores. The junior is now averaging a goal every other game, making him third in the Missouri Valley for goals per game and 66th nationally. For overall goals, Geromel is second in the MVC behind Bradley's Mitch Coughlon (7), and ranks in the Top 50 across the nation at 42nd.

This is now the second straight season for a first year transfer leading WMU's scoring attack. In 2025 senior forward Jonathan Stout led the Brown and Gold with five goals in 22 games played. Geromel became the fastest Western Michigan newcomer to five goals since current assistant coach and former Bronco forward Shane Lyons in 2010. Lyons transferred to WMU following a year at Oakland, scoring five goals in eight matches to begin his first season in a Brown and Gold uniform. 

SCOUTING THE FLAMES
UIC returns to Kalamazoo with a 3-4-2 overall record on the season for Saturday night's match. The Flames have earned wins over Western Illinois, Loyola, and Bradley through nine games this year while tying with Oral Roberts and #13 Notre Dame. UIC only recently earned its second draw of the year as its match against the Fighting Irish was earlier this week. The tie was the Flames first ever result over Notre Dame in seven prior matches while also being their highest-ranked result in 12 years. 

Part of UIC's draw on Tuesday night was powered by reigning MVC Offensive Player of the Week freshman midfielder Artem Grinblat. Grinblat had the initial shot that led to the Flames lone goal of the night and the week prior scored the first two goals of his career against Bradley. But UIC's leading offensive player so far has been junior midfielder Martin Montoya with four goals and eight points in seven matches. He is one of four Flames players with multiple goals on the year coming into tomorrow's match. In net UIC has only used graduate goalkeeper Owen Cornell, who in nine matches has allowed 15 goals for a 1.67 GAA while making 26 saves for a 0.634 save percentage.