SOUTH BEND, IN (WKZO AM/FM) – The Western Michigan University men’s soccer season came to an end Sunday night at Notre Dame as the Broncos fell 4-2 in snowy conditions on penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16.
After 110 minutes of scoreless soccer the teams stepped up for penalty kicks. Charlie Sharp opened for the Broncos but the shot was saved by Notre Dame goalkeeper Bryan Dowd. Matthew Roou stepped up and made his chance for UND, taking a 1-0 lead.
In the second round Dylan Sing hit the cross bar with his shot and Paddy Burns made his to put the Fighting Irish up 2-0. Tom Cooklin opened the third round burying his chance, but was matched by UND’s Eno Nto.
Down 3-1, Roni Sylejmani needed to make his attempt to keep the Broncos alive and he fired it past Dowd. Daniel Russo stepped up for the Fighting Irish, with WMU needing a save by Ethan Brandt or a miss to keep the season afloat, but Russo made his attempt to send Notre Dame on to the Round of 8 in the NCAA Tournament.
WMU had a man advantage for nearly 90 minutes of the game after a red card in the first half accessed against Notre Dame. The Broncos outshot the Fighting Irish 20-9 overall and had an 8-5 advantage in chances on frame.
Western Michigan finished their season 17-1-4, while Notre Dame improved to 12-2-5.
FIRST HALF
Western Michigan opened with two incredible chances in the opening 90 seconds. The first came from James, who was played through by Sharp. His shot from the left side of the box was saved by Dowd. The second was a shot by Tanner Hodgson from inside the box that was saved off the chest of a UND defender.
Notre Dame went down to 10 men after KK Baffour was shown a yellow card in the 26th minute. The foul was reviewed and escalated to a straight red card.
Sing had two great chances in the 32nd and 33rd minutes. The first was saved and trickled through Dowd’s leg but was cleared out of danger.
WMU outshot Notre Dame 10-6 in the first 45 minutes, with a 5-2 advantage in chances on goal.
SECOND HALF
The Fighting Irish had most of the chances early, with two corner kicks that generated chances on goal.
A WMU chance came in the 66th minute, when Will Perkins streaked into the box but his shot was slowed by the snow and Dowd made the save. Robinson also had a shot saved late in the second half. The Broncos also had a corner kick in the final minute but a foul was called and UND killed off the rest of the time to get to overtime.
OVERTIME
The Broncos carried possession in both overtimes but were held from a chance during the first 10 minutes. Sing, Robinson, Sharp and Cooklin all had chances in the second overtime, with Sharp having the best chance from the middle of the box.
(courtesy WMU Athletics)
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