BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The Western Michigan University men's soccer team will look to win back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championships on Saturday night against a familiar foe. 

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan came roaring back from a one goal deficit to beat the Evansville Purple Aces 3-1 in the MVC Tournament semifinals. Three different Broncos scored in the final 31 minutes of Wednesday night's match in southern Indiana for three straight wins. After sitting out WMU's quarterfinals match due to a red card the game prior, forward Sahel Yessen contributed on all three goals to lead the Brown and Gold offense. Yessen scored the equalizer for Western Michigan before assisting on goals from forward Vitor Geromel and forward Joseph Min.

Geromel added his third game winning goal and 11th of the season along with an assist while Min scored his first goal in a Bronco uniform. Midfielder Neo Heyral added a secondary assist on the final goal of the night for his third of the year. On the defensive side of the pitch, redshirt senior goalkeeper Alex Lindewirth made three saves on four shots on goal while facing a total of 21 shots in 90 minutes.

COME FROM BEHIND WIN
Wednesday evening's win over the Evansville Purple Aces was the first victory WMU had this season where the opposing team scored first. Prior to Wednesday, the Brown and Gold's record when its opponent scored first was 0-8-2 in 2026. The last time Western Michigan came back from a goal deficit to win a match in full time was at the beginning of the 2025 season.

The Broncos were able to earn a 2-1 win over the University of New Hampshire on September 1 after the Wildcats scored in the 40th minute. WMU then scored twice during the second half in the 65th and 74th minutes to win its only match of 2025 where the Brown and Gold didn't have the first goal. 

YEAH, WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE
Saturday night will be Western Michigan's second straight appearance in the MVC Tournament Championship match and the third in four years. The Broncos are currently 2-0 in postseason championship matches since joining the MVC in 2023. WMU has beaten Missouri State and Evansville in its two championship matches over the past three seasons by a goal margin.

Prior to moving to the MVC, the Brown and Gold made seven MAC Tournament championship matches in 26 postseason appearances. When in the MAC, Western Michigan had a 2-5 record in the title winning game. The Broncos earned MAC Championship match wins over Akron in 2022 and their opponent this weekend, Bowling Green, back in 2023. 

A FAMILIAR MAC MVC FACE THIS WEEKEND
WMU will be facing off against one of its most consistent program opponents in both the MAC and the MVC, the Bowling Green Falcons. The Brown and Gold and the Falcons have met 60 times since Western Michigan began its men's soccer program in 1971.

BGSU currently holds a slight advantage in the overall series at 24-29-7. But the Broncos have won seven of the last 10 meetings dating back to the 2018 MAC Semifinals. WMU also won this year's regular season meeting with Bowling Green 1-0 back on September 25 at Cochrane Stadium. Freshman midfielder Josh Nicholson scored his first collegiate goal in the 28th minute of the match for the game winner while Lindewirth made six saves in route to his second clean sheet of five in 2026. 

SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Bowling Green earned the top seed in the MVC Tournament last week with a 5-1 conference record over the past six weeks. The Falcons only loss in conference play was their opener against the Brown and Gold in September. Since that loss, Bowling Green hasn't dropped a match, riding a nine game win streak into tomorrow's championship. BGSU currently has the second longest win streak among NCAA programs at nine, as the country leader Portland has 11 straight wins heading into their championship match.

A big part of the Falcons turnaround over the second half of the season is MVC Goalkeeper of the Year Jason Ball. Bowling Green switched to Ball as keeper when Western Michigan came to town in September. The Broncos are currently his only loss on the season as the senior has an 8-1-1 record that includes a tie to Mercyhurst. Ball boasts an impressive GAA of 0.500 along with a 0.915 save percentage for fifth and first in the country respectively. On the offensive side of the pitch BGSU is led by sophomore midfielder Caue Ramos who has three goals and five assists for 11 points. He is closely followed on the stat sheet by sophomore forward Tyson McCoy and senior midfielder Aiden Ptacek with 10 points each.