Eduardo Cortes corrals the ball after Yllson Asani played it into the box for WMU. Aaron LaRoy/Western Herald.
Shane Lyons scores WMU's only goal on a penalty kick Tuesday. Aaron LaRoy/Western Herald.
Aaron LaRoy
Sports Reporter
Shane Lyons, Mid-American Conference Player of the Week, scored his third goal in three games for the Broncos, but it wasn’t enough to put IUPUI away.
Lyons scored the goal on a penalty kick after a foul was called in the box against IUPUI. However, it would take more than one goal to win this game as the Jaguars tied it up on a goal by Michael Sass in the 72nd minute of play. His opportunity came from a corner kick by Kyle Hyland, who was credited with the assist on the goal.
The elusive second goal would not be found by either team. After two periods of overtime, both teams remained deadlocked at 1 and would head home with a tie game added to their records.
Eduardo Cortes was solid in goal for IUPUI, and made key saves down the stretch to keep the game tied. Western had opportunities, getting ten shots on goal compared to IUPUI’s four, but couldn’t get the game winner past the Jaguar goalkeeper.
Despite Cortes’ performance, it was a game the Broncos feel they really should have won.
“When you have 23 shots and only come away with one goal, that’s obviously a major cause for concern,” said Stu Riddle, head coach of the Broncos.
If the Broncos had played the entire game in the same way they played the first half, the outcome may have been different.
“I think the first half we outplayed them,” Lyons said. “Then we just came out in the second half flat, and it really came back to haunt us at the end.”
“I was really pleased with the way we played in the first half. I thought it was total domination. I think we had about 80% possession of the ball,” Riddle said.
Western will try to put this game behind them and get ready to begin MAC play on Saturday against West Virginia. They will take the rest of this week to work on some fundamentals to get ready for their first conference game.
“We need to improve in some of the things that we didn’t do as well today,” Riddle said.
Looking ahead, Riddle is excited to begin conference play.
“Everyone starts even, 0-0-0, it doesn’t matter what your record is, and we’re looking forward to West Virginia coming here,” Riddle said.
WMU will be playing West Virginia at noon on Saturday. The Mountaineers are 5-2-1, and will play Iona on Wednesday before traveling to Kalamazoo.
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