DETROIT – The Western Michigan University men's soccer team found an equalizing goal in the second half to earn a point in a 1-1 tie against the Detroit Mercy Titans.
The Bronco offense exploded for 17 shots and a goal in the second half of Tuesday night's match after falling behind late in the first. Junior forward
Vitor Geromel scored his fifth goal of the season to help WMU earn a result against the Titans. Helping on the score was junior midfielder Josh Veychek for his first point in a Western Michigan uniform and sophomore midfielder
Liam Biggers. The draw on Tuesday becomes the 20th straight match against an in-state rival for the Broncos without a loss.
"It was a really hard fought match out there tonight by both teams," said Head Coach
Chad Wiseman following the match. "In the first half, I feel that we didn't come out with the intensity needed to set the tone for an in-state rivalry match. I thought the goal we conceded was soft and there was no reason we couldn't do better in that moment.
"In the second half I thought we were really good. We scored a really nice goal in the 62nd minute. And then we had three or four good chances to get the game-winner. We will keep working and believe that if we continue to create those opportunities, we will start to score on them."
It was a tale of two halves for the Broncos as they struggled to get anything going on offense in the first 45 minutes. WMU recorded only three shots in the half, one of which was the Brown and Gold's first penalty kick of the season. After a VAR review in the 33
rd minute, Western Michigan was awarded the PK for a Detroit Mercy foul inside the 18.
Junior midfielder
Kyle Pierson took the shot for the Broncos, aiming for the bottom left corner of the net. The shot was saved by the Titans goalkeeper as WMU didn't add another shot in the first half. Instead, Detroit Mercy found the back of the net in the 43
rd minute off of a free kick, putting the Brown and Gold down by one heading into halftime.
Western Michigan stayed in its defensive third early in the second half as the Titans fired off three shots in the first nine minutes. But after the opening ten minutes of the second frame, the Bronco offense began to find its footing. WMU turned on the offensive heat, taking four shots in the next few minutes to frustrate UDM's defense.
The Brown and Gold's nagging offense turned into a significant advantage in the 62
nd minute as one of the Titans starting defenders earned his second yellow card of the match. Western Michigan played the next 28 minutes up a man with the Detroit Mercy red card and quickly made UDM pay.
Geromel scored his team-leading fifth goal only seconds later on a second chance opportunity after a
Christian Shannon header was saved by the Titans. Biggers was able to corral the rebound near midfield, sending it on to Veychek just inside the 18. Veychek sent a cross into the penalty box where Geromel rose up for a header, sending the ball into the upper right half of the net.
The Bronco offense didn't stop there, as they quickly took control of possession. WMU added 11 additional shots after the tying goal, two of which were saved and four that were blocked. The majority of those last 11 shots were taken in the final 10 minutes of the match. Junior forward
Sahel Yessen and Geromel combined for six of the eight shots at the end to try for a winning goal. The Brown and Gold weren't quite able to find the back of the net again as the match finished in a 1-1 draw.
After two games on the road, Western Michigan returns home to the WMU Soccer Complex this weekend. The Broncos host their first conference opponent under the lights at the Farm on Saturday, October 3. The Brown and Gold will play the UIC Flames in their home MVC opener in four days with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
