Western Michigan University Athletics

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan University men's soccer team closed out the 2026 regular season with its fifth victory of the season.

Sophomore Liam Biggers recorded his first career brace to power the Broncos to a 2-1 win over the Bradley Braves, locking up the No. 3 seed in the MVC Tournament this weekend. While Biggers led WMU in goals and points, it was junior forward Vitor Geromel who recorded the most chances with four shots, half of which landed on goal. The Brown and Gold matched their season high for shots in a conference match facing Bradley, having 20 attempts with eight on goal. 

Western Michigan broke out to a one goal lead only five minutes into Wednesday night's match. Biggers scored his first goal of the night in the fifth minute after a cross went through the penalty box from midfielder Braden Stevanovic found him at the right corner of the goalie box. Biggers was able to fake out the Braves goalkeeper and hit the top right corner of the net for the 1-0 lead. The Broncos held the lead for 12 minutes until Bradley scored on its first shot of the match.

Shortly after the game was equalized, junior forward Sahel Yessen picked up a yellow card as WMU tried to return to its attacking third. The Braves recorded one more shot before the Brown and Gold had five straight shots in six minutes. Forward Alek Markovski had the last two chances of the half on either side in the penalty box, both of which were blocked. 

It took Western Michigan about a third of the second half to get its offense rolling again. The Broncos had two close attempts from defender Dan McHale and Yessen, the latter of which had to be saved by Bradley's keeper. WMU defended a five minute stretch before returning to the attacking third with a quick two shot sequence in the 72nd minute.

Eight minutes later Biggers found his second score of the night at the top of the penalty box firing a quick shot into the right side of the net. Assisting on the game-winning goal for the Brown and Gold was midfielder Kyle Pierson, who corralled a header to make the short pass to Biggers. Western Michigan defended against the Braves for three minutes before Yessen was assessed his second yellow card of the match for a straight red.

The Broncos closed out the final seven minutes of the match down a man with only nine players on the pitch. WMU was able to keep Bradley from getting another shot in the match, closing out the regular season with a 2-1 victory.

With the win on Wednesday, the Brown and Gold earned the No. 3 seed for the MVC Tournament and will host a quarterfinals match. Western Michigan will face the No. 6 Drake Bulldogs on Saturday evening to begin its postseason run. Kickoff from the WMU Soccer Complex against the Bulldogs is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 7.