BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The Western Michigan University men's soccer team will start Missouri Valley Conference play on the road on Friday night.

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan 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.

TOP 35 IN SAVES
Western Michigan continues to see shots and make saves at a national pace with the start of Missouri Valley Conference action this week. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Alex Lindewirth leads the conference in saves per game and total saves through 628 minutes in net this season. 

In seven matches so far, Lindewirth is averaging 4.57 saves a game. He is currently 24th in the country in saves per match and leads the Valley by almost a full save ahead of Belmont's freshman goalkeeper Brody Sucher. Lindewirth is also nationally ranked in total saves. The senior keeper has 32 stops heading into Friday's match, good for 32nd in the nation for the Broncos.

BACK TO THE VALLEY
WMU will look to begin its defense of its 2025 MVC Tournament title and preseason ranking on Friday. The Brown and Gold head to Bowling Green to start Valley action on the road. Western Michigan enters conference play having had the 87th toughest schedule in the nation through its first eight matches. Only two other MVC teams have a higher non-conference strength of schedule with Belmont at 28 and Drake at 42. 

The Broncos ended the 2025 season with a 2-2-3 conference record, making the MVC Tournament as the sixth seed. WMU then became the first six seed to win the tournament, making the NCAA Tournament for a fourth straight year. With their success last season, the Brown and Gold were picked as the Valley preseason favorites in August with five first place votes. 

SERIES HISTORY
Last season Western Michigan and the Bowling Green Falcons ended its lone matchup of the year in a 1-1 draw. It was the third straight result for the Broncos during 2025 after going 3-7 during non-conference play. Overall, Bowling Green currently leads the overall series at 29-23-7 dating back to 1971. Over the past 10 matches though WMU holds the advantage at 6-1-4 including a MAC semifinal victory.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS
The Falcons come into conference play with a record of 1-5-2 on the season Friday evening. Bowling Green began the season with a big win over Wright State but then suffered four shutout losses to Duquesne, IU Indy, Akron, and Xavier. Similar to the Brown and Gold, the Falcons have struggled to keep teams from scoring early, having surrendered 12 goals this season, with nine coming in the 76th minute or later.

Freshman forward Josh Brinkman leads Bowling Green in scoring, with five points and a pair of goals. He's followed by fifth year forward Trace Terry two goals and four points, while sophomore forward Tyson McCoy has three points. In net, senior Enzo Gil has played seven matches with 21 saves and a 1.71 goals against average.