KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan University men's soccer team plays its second of three straight home matches on Sunday afternoon against the Seattle U Redhawks. 

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan  returned home with a bang, picking up its first win of the season over the Butler Bulldogs 1-0. The Broncos broke through on the score sheet on Monday afternoon for their first win of 2026. It was a mostly even match in the attacking thirds between WMU and Butler as both teams recorded 11 shots through 90 minutes. 

But it was the Brown and Gold that prevailed during their annual Soccer Fest match with the lone goal of the day. Junior forward Vitor Geromel added his fourth tally in six games for the Western Michigan goal in the 81st minute. Redshirt senior Alex Lindewirth earned his first shutout of the season, making five saves in 89 minutes for his fifth career clean sheet.

TOP OF THE VALLEY
With his fourth career goal on Monday afternoon, junior forward Vitor Geromel leads the Missouri Valley Conference in two categories. Geromel is one of two Valley players with four goals in six matches this season, along with Bradley's Mitch Coughlon who had a brace on Friday night against Eastern Illinois. With four goals in six games, Geromel is averaging .667 goals a match. 

The junior forward also leads the MVC in points with eight going into Sunday's match. With an average of 1.33 points a game, Geromel is ranked 90th among Division I soccer players in the category. Geromel is also ranked in the Top 50 nationally in two other categories, total goals (22nd) and goals per game (44th). 

NEXT MATCH, NEW FACES
On Sunday, the Broncos will face their third program first foe in Seattle U. Of WMU's 18 regular season games in 2026, four of its opponents are teams they have never faced off against. When the Brown and Gold went on their road trip to the East Coast a week and a half ago, they saw two of their four new teams in 2026 with their stops at UConn and RV Bryant.

Western Michigan will then face two new program adversaries on its home field in September and October. The Broncos first welcome the Redhawks to the WMU Soccer Complex on Sunday. While the Brown and Gold will also play NAIA Holy Cross College (Ind.) exactly a month later on Tuesday, October 13. Four brand new program opponents is the most in a regular season for Western Michigan since the 2023 season. With it being the Broncos first season in the MVC, Belmont was a new team for WMU along with non-conference opponents Air Force, Utah Valley, and Villanova. 

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
After back-to-back program appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2023 and 2024, Seattle U entered the 2026 season coming off a difficult 2025, recording only four wins and missing the WAC (now WCC) Tournament for the first time since 2012. The Redhawks have already met half of their 2025 win total coming into Sunday with a 2-2 record. Seattle U is on a two game win streak after earning two wins on its home field over Cal State Fullerton and UC Davis. The Redhawks blew out both the Titans and the Aggies with an average margin of victory of 6.5 goals. 

Seattle U has scored 14 goals in four matches in 2026, led by junior forward Alex Notzka with five goals so far. All five of Notzka's goals were scored during the Redhawks homestand last week, earning him the WCC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Only two other players on Seattle U's roster have multiple goals in four games as junior defender Aidan Fong has scored three while freshman forward Leo Flores has a pair. In net, the Redhawks have used three of their goalkeepers in at least one match. Senior Levi Bieber and sophomore Aleksander Kapciak have two starts each while Kapciak just edges out Bieber for most minutes at 180 in net. Kapciak also leads Seattle U's goalkeepers in goals against average (1.50), saves (14), and save percentage (.824).