MILLIGAN, Tenn. (August 24, 2021) – The No. 22-ranked Milligan University Men's Soccer team opened its 2021 campaign with a 3-1 victory over Middle Georgia State on Tuesday evening.

Despite not playing a preseason game, Milligan found the back of the net three times and controlled the actions for large portions of the opening contest.

After 40 minutes of scoreless action to open the contest despite a number of credible scoring chances for the Buffs, Raphael Sefriou opened up the scoring for the new season. He took a pass from Odin Solheim and fired a shot off the Knights' keeper and the ball slipped inside the left post for the goal.

Milligan maintained that 1-0 lead into the halftime break, and quickly into the second half Inaki Moreno won a ball in the offensive third, approached the penalty area and blasted in his first tally of the season. Moreno's score gave Milligan a 2-0 advantage in the 52nd minute.

Middle Georgia State trimmed the deficit back to a single goal with a response in the 77th minute off a cross to the right post. The Buffs fired right backa minute later with Jett Carter finding in his first goal of the year off a feed from Victor Castel.

As a team, Milligan outshot MGA 17-10 and held a 10-2 edge in shots on target. The Buffs registered 12 corner kicks, compared to one for the Knights.

Milligan men's soccer returns to action Saturday at WVU Tech at 4:00 p.m. The Buffs defeated WVU Tech last year 3-2 when the Golden Bears were ranked No. 14 in the nation.

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