CMU soccer Senior Day spoiled by rival Broncos
Central Michigan University sophomore midfielder Naomi Phillips waves to the stands during introductions against Akron at the Soccer/Lacrosse Complex on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (CM-Life | Trevor Sparks)
Senior Day is a day of recognition for an accumulation of years, perhaps even a lifetime, of dedication to a sport. Central Michigan soccer celebrated its seniors in the second-to-last home game of the season against Western Michigan.
The rival Broncos made it tough on the Chippewas, rattling off three goals in the second half to upset the festivities, grabbing the victory 3-0.
CMU came into the game searching for its first Mid-American Conference win and still will be looking with three games left on the schedule. Following the loss, the team fell to 2-9-4 on the season and 0-5-3 in the MAC.
On the other hand, WMU improved to 7-3-4 overall and 6-1-1 in the MAC, sitting in first place in the conference.
Pregame, all eight seniors got to walk onto the field between a column of their teammates joined by parents and siblings for the special day. Each player received a display case with their own jersey inside, presented by teammates, and all together the seniors and families posed for a picture of the memorable day.
"I'm just appreciative of them, and how they welcomed me, and the work they've put in," head coach James DeCosemo said. "You know it's hard to go into last year, changing coach, and buying into that, and they did from the first moment."
The seniors included were Jadia Kershaw, Jordan Bailey, Caitlin Gill, Madison Slezinski, Rachel Jackson, Olivia Bretz, Melania Troy and Grace Baczek.
Bretz, after her freshman season for the Chippewas, transferred back to her home state of Kentucky to play for Centre College.
She transferred back to play for the maroon and gold in her junior and senior seasons, convinced by her teammates in Mount Pleasant at the time of rejoining the team.
"The ceremony was awesome," Bretz said. "Obviously it's a little sad, but this group of girls in this class is just awesome, and there's no one else that I would want to spend the day with. I don't want to leave this place, but I've had a great three years, so I'm very thankful and blessed to be here."
"I've never been part of a team that's been so close, especially our class. Every one of us are friends. We hang out on the field, off the field, it doesn't really matter," she said. "We all love each other. So, we're going to be staying in contact, hopefully."
DeCosemo rallied his team from the pleasantries, bringing them to the sideline to get them ready for the match.
The first half was a scoreless battle with a lot of contention in the midfield. Even with the Broncos edging out more shots and time of possession, the game remained even in scoring chances and momentum.
"The first half was what we wanted it to be," DeCosemo said. "We know we needed to match their intensity and fight and speed they play the game at and then come out, move the ball more often than not, which I felt like we did in the first half, which led to some opportunities."
After halftime, the teams retook the field on a cloudless sunny day looking to secure a victory in this rivalry game.
WMU's Tessa Fagerson broke the tie just one minute and 55 seconds into the half, completely shifting the momentum to the Broncos as they controlled the ball the rest of the way.
"Unfortunately, the second half, they get the early goal, and we struggled to get back out of the mindset of fighting and then playing soccer," DeCosemo said. "If you just make it a fight, Western will win more times than not. You have to beat them with the ball, we struggled to do that in the second half."
"As soon as that goal goes in, it gets the wind in their sails, and it kind of takes the wind out of ours," he said. "We struggled to recover from that, which makes sense when you've lost as many games as we have, and especially by one-goal margins."
It was Fagerson again who scored after she was fouled in the penalty area. She beat Kershaw with a shot toward the left post on her penalty kick, cementing a 2-0 lead at 53:47.
A turnover in CMU's defensive zone gave way to the third and final goal by RJ Wagamon. Irelyn Sheldon stole the ball from Bretz and passed it over Wagamon, who shot it in from near the left corner of the box into the net.
"Those are individual moments," DeCosemo said. "Those are moments that players probably have to take accountability for and step up to make sure that they don't happen. Unfortunately, they did today."
Central Michigan plays the University of Massachusetts next on the road on Saturday, Oct. 24.
