MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Oct. 22, 2014) â€" Tapiwa Kaseke scored his eighth goal Wednesday evening to boost the Milligan College men's soccer team past recently nationally-ranked Union College, 1-0.
 
Milligan (5-8-2, 3-5 Appalachian Athletic Conference) did not improve their positioning in the AAC, but the win over Union (12-4, 5-2 AAC), who was previously ranked as high as No. 16 and has only recently fallen out of the top 25 nationally, and the close loss to No. 18 Reinhardt last week have served to make a strong statement, with the postseason tournament now in sight.
 
"Our last two games have been the best games we've played," Head Coach Adam Laney said after the match. "We've played the way we're capable of playing, and tonight it showed in the results. So I'm proud it. If we had been doing this all year long, we'd be in a much different place. But we're peaking at the right time, and hopefully we can carry this into the tournament."
 
The first half of the game remained scoreless for the majority of the time, despite multiple shots by both teams. The Buffs came closest to scoring early on when a cross, headed by Bruce Olivier, bounced off of the post in the seventh minute, but it would be Kaseke who would find the net to give Milligan the winning goal.
 
In the 39th minute, Lewis Grant took a corner kick, sending the ball over the heads of everyone at the near post, but as it neared the far side of the goal, Kaseke struck it on the half volley, firing the ball past Union goalkeeper CJ Hopkins' dive and sending the Buffs into the locker room with the lead at the half.
 
The Buffs continued the attack in the second half, more than doubling their shot count but could not seem to find the net again. Kaseke, who led the Buffs with five shots on the evening and has scored the winning goal in two of the last three wins for Milligan, nearly scored again when his shot bounced off of the crossbar during the 56th minute.
 
Defensively, Dan Ball was perfect in his net protection against the Bulldogs, making five saves on five shots on goal to keep Union scoreless.
 
The Buffs take on the University of the Cumberlands for homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 25 and will then compete in their final AAC match of the year against Tennessee Wesleyan College on Wednesday, Oct. 29. With a win over Tennessee Wesleyan, Milligan could improve to sixth in the conference as the postseason commences.