LAURINBURG, N.C. (Oct. 31, 2017) â€" Sophomore Leonardo Guiaro put the Milligan College men's soccer team through to the quarterfinals of the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament with a golden goal in overtime, helping the Buffs upset St. Andrews University, 3-2, in the opening round of the tournament on Tuesday.
 
Guiaro's goal came in the 97th minute, after St. Andrews battled back to tie the game twice. Freshman Junior Nyamunda was credited with the assist on his corner kick, and Guiaro found the back of the net for his second goal of the season.
 
With the win, Milligan will play next at No. 2 seed Bryan College on Friday, Nov. 3. The start time for Friday's match is yet to be determined. A win over Bryan would put Milligan into the semifinals where the Buffs would play either No. 3 seed Truett-McConnell University or No. 6 seed Bluefield College.
 
Milligan had suffered from a slow start and lost to St. Andrews on the road in the final conference game of the season by a score of 5-1, but the Buffs came out Tuesday with a different purpose. Freshman Jordan Burch helped the Buffs to a fast start with a goal within the first two minutes of the match, assisted by senior Jesse Ramoya.
 
Although St. Andrews, which was the No. 7 in the AAC tournament, responded with a goal less than eight minutes later to tie the game 1-1, freshman Rhys Borror put the Buffs back on top with his team-leading sixth goal of the season less than 15 minutes into the second half. Ramoya had the assist on the second goal as well.
 
St. Andrews again tied the game back at 2-2 with a goal midway through the second half as Julio Rico scored his second goal of the game. Guiaro then put an end to the back-and-forth with his golden goal with less than four minutes to go in the first overtime frame.
 
Senior goalkeeper Nick Smith made seven saves in the victory, including four in the second half and two more in overtime. This brought his career total to 261. Bryan Newbold holds the Milligan saves record with 264 career saves.