KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan University men's soccer team begins its quest for a second-straight MVC Tournament title this weekend at home.

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan closed out the 2026 regular season with its fifth victory. 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. 

While Biggers led WMU in goals and points, junior forward Vitor Geromel 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, having 20 attempts with eight on goal. Western Michigan also recognized its three graduating players for Senior Day, forward Joseph Min, forward Alek Markovski, and goalkeeper Alex Lindewirth. 

CAN'T STOP WITH JUST ONE
In the Broncos match on Wednesday night, midfielder Liam Biggers became the third player to score multiple goals in a single game. Of WMU's four matches this season where the offense scored more than one goal, 75% had a player with two or more goals. 

Junior forward Vitor Geromel had the most goals in a match for a Bronco this season as he scored four against Holy Cross (Ind.) three weeks ago. Junior forward Sahel Yessen earned a hat trick for the Brown and Gold the week prior in a 4-0 win over St. Thomas. While Biggers was the last Western Michigan player to have a multi-goal game in the regular season on Wednesday. 

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Saturday night is the Broncos fourth appearance in the MVC Tournament going back to 2023. WMU hasn't missed the Valley's postseason championship tournament since joining the league four years ago. Including the MAC Tournament, the Brown and Gold are making their fifth straight postseason appearance in conference tournaments. Western Michigan has won three championships in the postseason since 2022 including one MAC Tournament championship and two MVC Tournament championships. 

The Broncos enter this weekend's tournament as the No. 3 seed after ending the regular season with a 2-1 win over Bradley. This will be the first time in the Valley that WMU is the third seed for the postseason tournament. In prior years the Brown and Gold have been as high as the first seed and as low as the sixth seed. While in the MAC, Western Michigan was the three seed in three different seasons (2018, 2009, & 2003). The Broncos have had success as the third seed with a 5-2 record which included the program's first MAC Tournament Championship in 2003. 

SERIES HISTORY
WMU and Drake have faced off against each other 11 times in program history but have only seen each other once during the postseason. The Brown and Gold currently lead the series 6-2-3 over the Bulldogs following this year's draw in the regular season. The one postseason meeting also went in Western Michigan's favor last season at Mediacom Stadium. In the 2025 MVC Tournament the Broncos advanced to the championship match after defeating Drake in the semifinals on penalty kicks after each team scored once during the first 90 minutes. 

Earlier this year, the Brown and Gold shutout the Bulldogs in a 0-0 draw at Mediacom Stadium in Des Moines. Western Michigan's defense was able to limit Drake to only a single shot on goal three weeks ago during the regular season meeting, a season low for any Bronco opponent. WMU will look to have the same solid defense on Saturday evening to advance to the semifinal round.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
The No. 6 Bulldogs just squeaked into the postseason this weekend after Western Michigan's win over Bradley on Wednesday. Drake finished conference play with four points, having won just one game (UIC) and earning its last point of the season from the draw with the Brown and Gold last month. The Bulldogs win over UIC was their last match of the regular season last Saturday, as a late goal earned Drake the 1-0 victory. Overall the Bulldogs ended the season with a 5-7-4 record and a 1-4-1 MVC record.

Midfielder Evan Carlson continues to lead the Drake offense with four goals in 16 matches of the regular season for eight points. Closely behind Carlson is forward Judah Shalit who had one goal and four assists in 14 matches. Shalit is one of three Bulldog players with four helpers on the season along with midfielder Barrett Kitts and defender Malachi Anya. In net, Drake continues to rely on junior Tomas Butkovic who has started all 16 matches for the Bulldogs. Butkovic ended the regular season with a 5-7-4 record that included five individual shutouts and one combined shutout along with a 0.91 GAA and a 0.720 save percentage.