Saturday’s Scoreboard
Western Michigan 5, Cincinnati 1
Stories Courtesy Of MAC Sports Information
Western Michigan 5, Cincinnati 1
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's soccer team improved to 3-2 on the year with a dominating performance against Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon inside the WMU Soccer Complex, defeating the Bearcats by a final score of 5-1. The last time the Broncos scored five or more goals in a single game was back on 10/14/2017 at Northern Illinois.
"We came out flying in the first half," Bronco head coach Chad Wiseman said. "We had great energy and commitment in our defensive press, which led to a couple of goals for us."
German native Sam Biek was fouled inside the box in the third minute of play and confidently put the ball into the back of the net on his penalty shot opportunity, giving the Broncos the early 1-0 advantage. Sophomore forward Mike Melaragni scored the fourth goal of his collegiate career and first of 2019 in the 18th minute, with freshman Brennan Creek and sophomore Eric Conerty earning assists. Conerty then scored a goal of his own 14 minutes later to give his team a commanding 3-0 lead. It marks the first goal for in black and gold for the forward from Grand Rapids after he transferred from Butler. Western Michigan finished its impressive first half with a strike from Zack Shane, who controlled a bouncing ball around the Cincinnati goalkeeper to make it 4-0 for the Broncos. Senior captain Giuseppe Vitale collected an assist on the goal.
Freshman midfielder Charlie Sharp earned his first collegiate points, scoring the fifth and final goal on the day for the Broncos. Redshirt senior Jake DeJulio and freshman Max Keenan were credited with the assists on the play, which came in the 68th minute. With two assists on the afternoon, Keenan is now tied for the team lead in that category with Creek.
The Bearcats got on the board in the 85th minute with an unassisted marker from Charlton Creggton.
"Five different goal scorers is great to see," remarked Wiseman. "We are showing early in this season that we can score the ball."
The Broncos controlled most of the play in the contest, outshooting Cincinnati 15-7, with nine of those 15 shots on goal. Sophomore Lukas Von Lienen and redshirt freshman Isaac Walker split time in net for Western Michigan, combining for three total saves in the winning effort.
"It was a great week of preparation by the guys and it showed in their play on the field," Wiseman stated.
Western Michigan will now head to Michigan State next Friday, September 20 before traveling to Charlottesville for a date with No. 6 Virginia on the following Monday, September 23.
