KALAMAZOO, Mich. – No. 5 Western Michigan used four second half goals to open up a tight match on its way to a 5-1 victory over Villanova (0-3-1 overall).
Jordan Canica scored Villanova's goal.
"Even though we were down a goal at halftime, we felt pretty good about where we were," stated Villanova head coach Mark Fetrow. "We had some good possessions and a couple of opportunities to get one near the end of the half.
"Obviously it was a different story in the second half. They got the second goal in the first ten minutes and that made it tougher for us. After that, we just made too many young mistakes against an outstanding, well-coached team. It's something we have to learn from."
The Broncos (3-0-1 overall) generated some pressure in the opening moments of this one capped by a Grayson Mercer header that sailed just outside the right post of the Wildcats' goal in the seventh minute. A few moments later sophomore Josh Oladele sent Villanova's first shot of the day over the crossbar of the goal.
Senior Vincent Petrera had what looked to be a good chance from 16 yards out in front of the WMU net but a Broncos defender blocked the attempt in the 16th minute, knocking it out of harms' way toward the left sideline.
A short while later, the Wildcats successfully defended a dangerous Broncos free kick from just outside the 18-yard box on the left side.
A pair of quality saves by Sebastian Cutler DeJesus kept the game scoreless in the span of a minute midway through the period kept this match level. But the 'Cats were unable to clear the ball away from the front of the net on the second attempt, and the Broncos Noah James was able to send a shot into the net at 25:28 to push Western Michigan in front 1-0.
The Wildcats generated some heat on the Broncos in the final minute of the half as Balthi Saunders and Jason Bouregy each had shots towards goal that were blocked. The period ended after a bid by Lorenzo Avalos, off the first Nova corner kick of the day, sailed to the right of the goal.
Western Michigan held an 11-5 edge in shots at intermission along with its one goal cushion.
An apparent second goal for Western Michigan was waved off in the early minutes of the second half as the play was deemed to be offsides.
The Broncos picked up goal number two a short while later off a play that developed on the right side. Braxton Arpachinda sent a cross that Greyson Mercer redirected into the net with his right foot at 53:23.
A steal led to a strong blast from senior Jordan Canica that forced Broncos' goalkeeper Colin Welsh to leap high at the top of the net to make his first save of the afternoon in the 59th minute.
Mercer teamed up with James to produce WMU's third goal of the day at 76:31. Mercer picked up the assists and James notched the goal.
Canica got the Wildcats on the board at 77:40 to close the gap to 3-1 but a corner kick resulted in WMU's fourth goal of the afternoon less than a minute later. Roni Sylejmani scored for the Broncos to extend the lead to 4-1. Mercer scored again at 79:51 after a steal to push the lead to 5-1.
"Jordan had a great day," Fetrow said. "He was a leader for us all afternoon."
The Wildcats weren't able to get a result in this five day, two game trip to Michigan. But Fetrow believes some intangible gains were made that can benefit the Wildcats moving forward.
"I thought (Sunday) was one of the best days we had as a group this fall as far as camaraderie and shared belief as a unit," Fetrow said. "We saw some of the benefits of that in the first half. The next step is to hold that not just for 45 minutes, but for 90 minutes."
Villanova is idle until Saturday when it hosts Lafayette at the Higgins Soccer Complex at 4 p.m. The Wildcats will welcome home soccer alumni as part of the day's festivities.
