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Courtesy Photo | Western Michigan University Athletics
Center back Christian Shannon and the Western Michigan University men's soccer team will host SIU-E at 1 p.m. Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Division I Tournament.
BY DAN STICKRADT
WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR | DIRECTOR OF NEWS
MICHIGAN SOCCER NETWORK | NATIONAL SOCCER NETWORK | PREMIER MEDIA GROUP
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KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan University will have a chance to right the ship this week and that opportunity will come in the NCAA Division I Tournament.
After going 2-2-1 in their last five games, the Broncos drew Ohio Valley Conference Tournament champion Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville for an NCAA first-round game on Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. at the WMU Soccer Complex.
Western Michigan sputtered at the end, dropping a late regular season game to Bowling Green State University (3-0) back on Nov. 1 and then fell again in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals to University of Evansville (2-1) on Nov. 10. Over the last five games, Western Michigan still holds a 10-4 scoring edge with one shutout but the only time the Broncos have been shut out this season came during the last five games.
Western Michigan University has not faced SIU-E this season. The Bronchos are 11-2-6 overall and tied for third in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season standings at 13 points (3-1-4), along with Bowling Green State University and Evansville.
Four of the top five teams in the MVC earned bids to the NCAA Division I Tournament, as regular season champion Missouri State (22 points), Bowling Green (13), Western Michigan (13) and Evansville (13) all played their way into the postseason field. MVC regular season runner-up Drake University did not earn a berth in the field due to a lower RPI rating, while Evansville won the conference tournament and earned the league’s automatic bid.
Western Michigan owns regular season wins over the University of Vermont, University of New Hampshire, and Northwestern University – three teams that were ranked in the top 25 at various times this season. The Broncos were ranked the entire regular season, reaching as high as No. 4 in the country while dipping as low as No. 23 in the nation, mainly to the tough 2-2-1 stretch at the end of the regular season and conference tournament.
Western Michigan has outscored its opposition 40-17 this season and ventured through its first 16 games of the 2024 campaign without a loss (10-0-6). The Broncos own five shutouts on the year, been blanked only once, have averaged 2.11 goals-per-game and hold a paltry team goals-against-average of 0.90 this season.
WMU is also 8-1-3 at home this season, while going 3-1-3 on the road. The only loss at home was their last contest, the 2-1 upset loss to Evansville in the conference quarterfinals.
The Bronchos are making their fifth NCAA appearance in the 2000s, following 2003, 2017, 2022 and 2023. WMU lost in the opening round (48 teams) back in 20023 but reached the Sweet 16 in 2017, 2022 and 2023, including last year where the team lost to eventual national runner-up University of Notre Dame (1-0, 4-1 on PKs) in the Round of 16.
In 11 seasons under current head coach Chad Wiseman, the Broncos are making their fourth overall NCAA appearance. Wiseman had led WMU to a 134-57-37 record in those 11 seasons heading into Thursday’s opening-round matchup with Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
SIU-E comes into the NCAA Division I opener riding a five-game win streak where the Cougars own a 12-3 scoring edge with five shutouts. SIU-E defeated Incarnate Word (1-0) and Houston Christian (3-2, 2OT) to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship.
The Cougars were also outright regular season OVC champions this season, (8-1-1, 25 points).
SIU-E owns a 29-16 scoring edge on the season but have posted 10 clean sheets and shut out five other times. The Cougars are 10-1-1 in their last 12 games this season (24-5 scoring edge, eighth shutouts in that stretch).
Western Michigan is in the NCAA Division Tournament for a program-record third straight season
Tickets for the match will go on sale Tuesday, November 19, at 10:00 a.m. at wmubroncos.evenue.net. Adult tickets are $10 and youth tickets are $5.
The winner of the first-round contest will face No.1 seed Ohio State University on the road in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, November 24 at 5:00 p.m.
OLLEGE MEN’S SOCCER: Survive and
(Have a story suggestion for the Premier Media Group and the Michigan Soccer Network regarding club soccer, high school varsity, amateur soccer, collegiate soccer or professional soccer involving teams, players or coaches with Michigan ties, contact Communications Specialist/Web and Content Editor/Director of News Dan Stickradt via email at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com or dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com, or call 248-884-1051 or 248-525-2349. Dan Stickradt is a 31-year veteran of the Michigan Media circles and recently joined the staff full time in March of 2024. Want to schedule a broadcast game or live show, contact PMG/MSN Director of Broadcasting Jonathan Turner for availability and pricing at jonathan@michigansoccernetwork.com and jonathan@thepremiermediagrp.com.)
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