BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (October 27, 2022) – A pair of first-half goals were enough for the Milligan University men's soccer team to take a 2-0 win at Bluefield on Wednesday afternoon.
The Buffs move to 8-2-5 on the season and 8-1-3 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) action. With the victory, Milligan can clinch the AAC regular season championship outright with a victory on Saturday. Bluefield dropped to 6-8, 4-7 AAC.
Milligan recorded five corner kicks in the first 13 minutes of regulation and took the lead in the 15th. Ethan Bishop flung a throw-in into the penalty area, Luke Bennett headed it to the right post and Inaki Moreno slipped in his fourth goal of the season to give the Buffs a 1-0 edge.
The Buffs held Bluefield without a shot for nearly the entire first half. The Rams' top scoring chance came in the 45th minute as a Bluefield free kick from just inside midfield was headed inside the penalty area toward the top-left corner of the goal. Ludvig Wille made a leaping save to preserve the Buffs' edge.
With under 30 seconds in the half, Jett Carter beat a defender and was fouled from behind after entering the left side of the 18-yard box, resulting in a penalty kick. Bennett stepped to the penalty spot and cashed his second PK goal of the season and seven tally overall. Milligan led 2-0 at the half.
The Rams nearly found a goal early in the second half with a counterattack resulting in contested one-on-one opportunity that Wille prevented with a kick save. Clay Gallant's hustle prevented a corner and cleared the ball to end the threat.
Bennett nearly had a second goal as his well-paced header off a cross from Asa Blake in the 74th minute was only thwarted by a leaping save by the Bluefield keeper.
The game only featured a dozen shots with Milligan taking 10. The Buffs held a 9-1 advantage in shots on goal and 9-2 margin in corner kicks. Wille collected his second 90-minute shutout of the season.
Milligan hosts Johnson (Tenn.) on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. A victory over the Royals would secure Milligan's third-straight trip to NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
