Jefferson City, Tenn. (Sept. 1, 2011) --- The Milligan College men's soccer team saw Nahom Tekle (Louisville, Ky.) score three goals as the Buffaloes kicked off the 2011 season with a 4-2 victory over NCAA Division II Carson-Newman on Thursday night in Jefferson City, Tenn.

The Buffaloes got a quick start from Tekle as he scored his first goal with an assist from Sandre Wilson (Mandeville, Jamaica) in the game's seventh minute. In the ninth minute, Tekle was on the receiving end of a pass from Nimely Robertson (Liberia) to give Milligan an early 2-0 lead. The Buffaloes got on the board again in the 16th minute when Tekle knocked in a pass from Chris Ochieng (Nairobi, Kenya) to put Milligan up 3-0 at the half.

Carson-Newman opened the scoring for the second half as Joao Pedro Dowlsey found the goal in the 54th minute, and the Eagles saw Jared Prall score in the 81st minute. However, Jessup Ebanks (West Bay, Cayman Islands) responded in the 75th minute with a goal with an assist from Tekle to keep the Eagles at bay.

Defensively, Alex Haun (Knoxville, Tenn.) recorded four saves.

“I felt it was a good start for us,” Head Coach Adam Laney said. “We need to be a little more sound on defense, but it is a great start.”

The Buffaloes return to action on Saturday, Sept. 3, when they participate in the Michael Shope Memorial Tournament at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C. Milligan will square off against the University of Montevallo at 1 p.m.