Western Michigan University Athletics

NASHVILLE -- The Western Michigan University men's soccer team earned its third tie in conference play with a 1-1 result against the Belmont Bruins.

The Broncos remain undefeated in their series with Belmont as the teams had their third straight 1-1 draw on Friday night. WMU finished the road slate of its regular season schedule with the result while junior midfielder Kyle Pierson scored his first goal in a Brown and Gold uniform. Junior forward Sahel Yessen earned his team-leading fourth assist on Western Michigan's lone score of the match, moving up to second in assists in the Missouri Valley Conference.

"I thought the opening 20 minutes of the match were very good as we spent a lot of time in the box creating good looks at the goal," said Head Coach Chad Wiseman after the tie. "Kyle rewarded us with a really nice strike at the goal."

It was a fast start to begin the weekend for the Broncos as they took six straight shots in the first 11 minutes. The final of those six shots was Pierson's goal in the 11th minute. He was able to follow up a blocked shot by Yessen just inside the 18 to put the ball in the upper right corner of the net. WMU continued to press offensively after the goal, outshooting the Bruins eight to five over the next 34 minutes of the half. The Brown and Gold had five additional chances on net with Pierson and forward Vitor Geromel having a pair each.

"We definitely had our chances to find our second goal in the first half," said Wiseman. "I really felt like it was coming, and maybe we were a bit unlucky on a couple of shots that hit the crossbar."

Western Michigan had a reversed start to the second half at E.S. Rose Park, not registering a shot until the 71st minute. By then Belmont had found the equalizing goal in the 68th minute on a driving run up the left side of the pitch that ended up in the bottom right corner of the net. While the Bronco offense began to accelerate, the Bruins continued to control the pace of play but only for five minutes. "We had a poor 15 minute spell in the second half and Belmont found their goal during that period," explained Wiseman. 

WMU fired off three straight shots, ending with a long chance on net from defender Jordan Klein. Belmont had one last surge on offense in the final two minutes that the Brown and Gold defense was able to keep the Bruins from finding the winning score. Western Michigan capped off the draw with its eighth shot on goal in the last second by midfielder Braden Stevanovic. The long strike was almost mishandled for a score by Belmont's goalkeeper, but was saved as the two sides split points.

"After their equalizer, the game was wide open for the last 15 minutes," said Wiseman. "Both sides were looking for the winning goal to end the match. We'll regroup and look forward to our last regular season conference match against Bradley next week." 

Geromel led the team on offense through 90 minutes seven shots while three other Broncos recorded two shots each. Redshirt goalkeeper Alex Lindewirth set a new career high for stops in a match with eight saves on the Bruins offense. By earning a point on the road paired with a UIC loss to Drake, WMU currently sits at fourth in the Valley going into the final match of the regular season.

The Brown and Gold end the 2026 regular season at home on Wednesday, November 4 against the Bradley Braves. Western Michigan will celebrate its senior class prior to the match as part of Senior Day festivities at the WMU Soccer Complex. Kickoff for the Broncos final match of the regular season is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday.