“I thought we came out with a pretty good mentality and created some chances in the first half, we were the aggressor,” head coach Damon Rensing said. “These games are really hard to get up for. The effort from the guys was good. They wanted to win.”

The first score came with 20 minutes left in the first half when freshman forward Adam Montague found senior forward Rubin Bega for the goal, Bega’s third of the season.

Bega said picking up the win in the team’s second-to-last home game was a big step heading toward the postseason.

“It felt great,” Bega said. “Western is an in-state rival game, and it feels good to beat them every year, especially at home and at the end of the season to start getting on a roll.”

Montague picked up his second assist of the game when he found freshman midfielder Kyle Rutz for the insurance goal with three minutes left.

The Broncos responded less than a minute later when forward Kai Mendes shot a ball that made its way across the box and past senior Spartan goalkeeper Jeremy Clark.

Despite the late goal, Rensing felt the team played well defensively overall.

“I thought we were fairly good defensively until the end there where we didn’t make very many good decisions going forward, but all correctable stuff,” he said.

Clark made three saves on 10 Western shots, and felt his team anticipated and handled the Broncos well.

“We played well today, defended great and we took care of their energy,” Clark said. “We knew they would come out flying, and they did a great job taking it to them.”