DAYTON, Ohio -- The Western Michigan University men's soccer team looks to earn its first win of the 2026 season on Sunday night.

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan opened the 2026 season with a 2-2 tie at RV Kentucky on Thursday night. On the road to begin the year, the Broncos earned a solid result against the Kentucky Wildcats at Bell Soccer Complex. WMU put two goals in the back of the UK net through 90 minutes from midfielder Liam Biggers and forward Vitor Geromel with assists from juniors Sahel Yessen and Braden Stevanovic.

The opening goal from Biggers was the second of his career while Geormel scored his first goal both collegiality and wearing a Brown and Gold uniform. Western Michigan senior goalkeeper Alex Lindewirth had a career night against the Wildcats, making seven saves on nine shots on goal.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
For the first time since the 2023 season, the Broncos are starting their schedule with a road trip for multiple matches. WMU heads to Dayton to take on the Flyers in the team's 18th meeting with each other. The Brown and Gold hold the overall advantage in the series with eight wins to four losses, while also holding a slight edge at Baujan field at a .562 win percentage. 

Western Michigan has had recent success when starting the season away from Kalamazoo. Back in 2023, the Broncos went 2-1 during their opening road trip, only falling to then No. 12 Vermont. WMU also began the 2022 season on the road with an even 1-1 trip. The 2021 season was the last time Western Michigan began a season on the road and with a sub-.500 record.

PICKED TO REPEAT
After a dominate postseason run in 2025 and returning half of their points leaders, the Brown and Gold were selected to win the Missouri Valley Conference in a preseason poll of league coaches.  Western Michigan earned five first-place votes and 44 total points in the poll, edging out second place Drake at 40 points. This is the first time the Broncos have been selected as the preseason favorite for either the MVC or MAC dating back to 2010.

WMU also had another Valley first in the preseason selections with three players on the Preseason All-MVC team. Defenders Braxton Arpachinda and Christian Shannon both earned preseason accolades along with forward Sahel Yessen. This is Arpachinda and Yessen's first preseason selections, while Shannon repeats as a preseason All-MVC defender for the Brown and Gold.

SCOUTING THE FLYERS
Dayton dropped its opening match of the 2026 season to 12th ranked Akron on Thursday night. The Flyers were shutout by the Zips despite Dayton having 10 opportunities through 90 minutes. In their first match, the Flyers were led offensively by sophomore forward Uri Koffi with three shots. Prior to the opening match, Dayton was picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll and placed three student-athletes on the 2026 Preseason All-Conference Team after ending 2025 with an 8-2-8 record.

The Flyers return less than half of their 2025 A-10 Tournament runner up roster, including losing 77% of its scoring from the prior season. Dayton's key players returning from the 2025 season are its Preseason All-A10 selections, defender Mikkel Madsen and midfielders Braden Seel and Miles Bonham. Madsen earned A10 All-Rookie Team accolades last year, helping Dayton hold opponents to just 15 goals across the entire season – the lowest total of any Atlantic 10 team last year. Seel started all 18 matches for the Flyers, scoring two goals and tallying four assists. Bonham found the back of the net twice last season, including once against Saint Louis in the A10 Tournament final.