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Western Michigan men's soccer advances to NCAA tournament 2nd round for second time ever

ryan ford, detroit free press
·3 min read

For the second time in program history, Western Michigan men’s soccer is headed to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Charlie Sharp, who also scored the Broncos’ winner in the MAC title game on Saturday, punched through in the 93rd minute to give WMU a 2-1 overtime victory over Louisville on Thursday.

The victory is the first in the NCAA tournament for the Broncos since they beat Albany in the first round before losing to Michigan State in the second round. This time around, WMU (15-2-2) will head to Nashville, Tennessee, to face No. 9-seed Lipscomb at 3 p.m. Sunday. The winner of that game will face either 8-seed Oregon State or Portland or UC Riverside, which played late Thursday.

Brighton's Charlie Sharp was named Most Valuable Player of the Mid-American Conference soccer tournament after leading Western Michigan University to the championship.
Brighton's Charlie Sharp was named Most Valuable Player of the Mid-American Conference soccer tournament after leading Western Michigan University to the championship.

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On Thursday in Louisville, the Broncos and Cardinals played a scoreless first half, though WMU dominated the run of play with 10 shots, including four on goal. Louisville, meanwhile, mustered just three shots, and only one on net against WMU goalie Hunter Morse. That was a fitting start for the Broncos, who allowed just eight goals during the regular season and the MAC tournament. (The Broncos are headed to the Missouri Valley Conference next season as the MAC will no longer support men’s soccer.)

Less than 15 minutes into the second, however, WMU opened the scoring as Sharp (Brighton) worked a give-and go with Mike Melaragni in the 60th minute. With the ball deep in the zone on the left side, Melaragni crossed it in front of the net where Dylan Sing was waiting. After a slight dribble, he tapped it past Lousiville goalie Ryan Troutman with his left foot in the 60th minute.

From there, Louisville stepped up its attack, including a 90-second sequence in which Morse came up with three big saves with about 15 minutes to go in regulation.

But a regulation finish was not to be, as the Broncos’ hand ball in the box in the 82nd minute gave the Cardinals a penalty kick. Camara Aboubacar finished the free kick for his team-high sixth goal and the teams were tied.

But WMU surged in the first half of overtime, as Sharp took a ball from Melaragni and sent it past Troutman for a 2-1 Broncos lead. From there, the Broncos relied on their stout defense and several key saves by Morse, including stopping Sander Roed’s blast from 18 yards out in the 106th minute. The Cardinals, growing increasingly desperate, had two chances ended in the final four minutes by offsides calls.

Morse finished with eight saves for the Broncos as the Cardinals fired 17 shots, nine on goal, while Troutman had six saves for the Cardinals as part of the Broncos’ 20 total shots. WMU’s attack dominated throughout, earning 14 corner kicks to Louisville’s mere three.

This is the third NCAA tournament appearance for the Broncos, who lost in the first round in 2003 to Milwaukee.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Western Michigan men's soccer advances to NCAA tournament 2nd round