MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Sept. 8, 2015) â€" Three days after scoring his first Milligan goal, Zana Ali followed up with his first career hat trick, all within the first 30 minutes of action, as the Milligan College men's soccer team got its first win of 2015 with a 6-3 decision over Johnson University Tuesday night at Anglin Field.
 
In addition to Ali's effort, Jonathan Colson joined the fray with his second two-goal game of the season, and Ryan Reilly scored his first.
 
With its first victory, the Milligan record raised to 1-6, while Johnson's dropped to 0-3.
 
In addition to the scoring output, the Buffaloes leading shot-takers were Colson, who had five, Ali, who had four, and Derek Milioni, who finished with three. Additionally, Colson and Ali both had three shots on goal, while Thomas Suits added two assists.
 
The first half was a wild one, featuring seven total goals and 21 total shots to really put the pressure on the goalkeepers.
 
Milligan got the scoring started early with a header from Colson of the far cross from Suits in only the fifth minute.
 
Johnson then responded 10 minutes later when Wilford Phiri took the pass from Isaac Jordan at the top of the box and scored from roughly 20 yards away.
 
Ali's first goal then came less than four minutes later when in the 19th minute, he repossessed a ball the Royals attempted to clear away from the penalty area, and found the back of the net.
 
Less than four minutes later again, the Buffs scored twice in less than a minute and a half as Reilly scored after the goalie cleared the crossing pass, followed by Colson's second goal of the night, a shot scored from the near end line on the assist from Reilly.
 
The persistent Milligan attack continued to be relentless, and only two minutes later in the 26th minute, Ali found pay dirt for the second time, which he followed up with his third goal in the 30th minute after he rallied a long pass from Suits and flipped the ball over the keeper and across the goal line.
 
In addition to their six goals, the Buffs outshot the Royals 16-5 in the first half, dominating in almost every fashion of the match. However, the script was reversed in the second half as Johnson went on to outshoot Milligan 9-3, resulting in two goals, and had three close calls ricochet off the crossbar and the post.
 
Isaac Jordan, who had the assist on Johnson's first goal of the night, scored twice in the second half, with the two tallies coming just over a minute apart from each other in the 49th and 50th minutes to cut the Buffs' lead in half.
 
Overall, Milligan outshot the Royals 19-14, but only had one additional shot on goal at 10-9.
 
Keeper Nick Smith got the victory after playing the first 57 minutes of the contest and making three stops, before giving way to Brandon May, who also made three saves the rest of the way.
 
Next up, Milligan will hit the road for its first multimatch trip of the season, beginning with the team that eliminated them from last season's AAC tournament, Montreat College, on Wednesday, Sept. 16, in nearby Montreat, North Carolina. The Buffs will not return home to Anglin Field until Sept. 26, when they welcome the Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan College.