KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan University men's soccer team dropped its Saturday afternoon tilt against the #17 Cornell Big Red 2-0.
A wet and soggy day at the WMU Soccer Complex ended with the Broncos falling to Cornell 2-0 to wrap up a three-game homestand. Six different Brown and Gold players recorded a shot through 90 minutes while redshirt senior goalkeeper
Alex Lindewirth made six saves.
"It's been a very challenging non-conference schedule where we have learned some hard lessons," said Head Coach
Chad Wiseman following the match. "Cornell is a very talented team. They are extremely disciplined and that showed today."
It was a slow first half due to the field conditions as neither team had much success on offense early. But after the 20 minute mark, the Big Red maintained control of the ball with some off target attempts. Cornell opened the scoring with a penalty kick goal in the 32nd minute.
Soon after the PK, the Broncos had a good chance for a goal of their own in the 39
th minute. A corner kick a minute before led to an offensive shift that saw redshirt junior defender
Christian Shannon get a head on the ball in front of the goalie box. WMU then had the final shot of the half in the 43
rd minute off a free kick as redshirt junior midfielder
Kyle Pierson sent the ball high over the net.
The offensive pressure from the Big Red didn't letup in the second half, leading to a second goal in the 63
rd minute. Much of the rest of the half was spent in the Brown and Gold's defensive third as Lindewirth made three more saves after the score.
Western Michigan had two chances in the final 12 minutes of the match. One for freshman midfielder
Joshua Nicholson that was blocked in the 78
th minute and one for junior forward
Vitor Geromel in the 85
th minute that went over the net. The Broncos late match push was defended by Cornell as they left Kalamazoo with the 2-0 victory.
"We open conference play next week and we must raise our level of play," says Wiseman. "We can and I believe that we will do so."
WMU begins Missouri Valley Conference play in its next match on Friday, September 25. The Brown and Gold travel to Bowling Green to take on the Falcons to begin Valley action. Kickoff from Cochrane Stadium is set for 7 p.m. on Friday night.
