KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The IUPUI men's soccer team fell into a big first half hole and was never able to recover in a 6-0 loss at Western Michigan on Labor Day (Sept. 5). The host Broncos scored four times before halftime against redshirt freshman James Mitchison and rolled to a fourth straight win to start the year while IUPUI dipped to 0-3. 

"I have to give credit to Western Michigan," IUPUI Head Coach Brian Barnett said. "They're a team that since Coach Wiseman has come in, he's done well to build on the past successes of their program and he's developed a program culture and identity that is very well known throughout college soccer, in particular in the Midwest.

"They're a team that's tough to play against. No matter what kind of look you try to give them during a game, they're going to have a response for that and they're very well coached and very well organized. Credit to them for getting on top of us early and staying on top of us."

IUPUI was on the defensive for much of the first half before the dam finally broke in the 23rd minute against Mitchison, who was making his first career start. 

WMU's Nathan Hoover opened the scoring with a clinical finish, created by Brandon Bye's angled cross against the grain. Five minutes later, Hoover returned the favor with a cross to Bye, who redirected a brilliant header just inside the far post. 

Alex Ruddock scored on a header in the 39th minute and Dzenan Nezirevic tallied in the 43rd minute to put the Jags in a massive hole. Bye tallied again in the 60th minute for his fourth tally of the young season and Diego Lopez added late insurance with a strike from distance. 

"There's no goals that are (the goalkeepers) fault," Barnett said. "Rare is it that the goalkeeper can be the only blame on a goal. There's usually six to eight mistakes that take place over the course of the field before it gets to them. 

"Too many times, we were asking (the goalkeepers) to make big time saves over the course of the last matches and we weren't able to do it."

IUPUI earned a penalty kick in the 72nd minute, but senior captain Cristian Soto had his attempt knocked down by WMU keeper Drew Shepherd. Junior Pape Ndiaye helped earn the PK, getting tangled with a defender and Shepherd in close as a cast of folks tried to get on the end of a cross from the right side. 

After the missed PK, freshman Pedro Valladao found a crease and unloaded a right-footed strike, but Shepherd again dove right and pushed the shot aside. 

Shepherd needed three saves to seal his third shutout of the season while Mitchison collected four saves. 

IUPUI will return to action on Sunday, Sept. 11 when the Jaguars face DePaul in Chicago. Live video and live stats will be available on IUPUIJags.com at the start of the contest.