KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Milligan University's (RV) men's soccer team headed out to Johnson University in Knoxville on Wednesday night for another Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) battle. The Buffs made the most of their opportunities offensively, cruising to a 3-0 triumph over the hosting Royals.
With the victory Milligan now boasts a 7-2-1 record overall and a 6-1-0 record in AAC play.
Milligan turned to a usual suspect for their first goal of the contest in the 21st minute, as
Kerim Akpinar put home the second shot on goal of the period by the Buffaloes. It was his seventh goal of the campaign and came off an assist by
Asa Blake. About eight minutes later, the Buffs scored on their next shot on frame, with substitute
Marco Lattanzi converting on a beautiful feed from Akpinar to give MU a 2-0 lead. The team held an 11-5 advantage in shots taken and led 3-1 in the on-goal category.
It was more of the same in the second half, as the Buffs doubled their overall shot total—plus two—and added eight more shots on frame. The one goal that Milligan scored in the latter period was a nail in the Royals' coffin, as Blake scored his second goal of the year in the 87th minute from
Mavroudis Katsantonis. Johnson simply could not get anything going, taking only three shots in the half, as the Buffaloes brought home a 3-0 triumph.
Blake took a team-high eight shots, accounting for more than a third of the squad's overall output. Four of those shots were on net, and one of them ended up in the net. Akpinar and Lattanzi each took three shots, while the former had two shots on frame and the latter provided one. They each had one goal, while
Justin Madejski,
Federico Confaloni and
Youseff Heggy all took two shots with one on net, apiece.
Freddie Zinn blasted the final shot on goal.
The contest was not a difficult one for
Adria Alles in net, as he stopped all three shots that he faced to earn the shutout. His record improves to 7-2-1 on the year with the victory.
Following their fifth straight win, Milligan will have Saturday off this weekend, as they look forward to a rescheduled contest against Truett McConnell (Ga.) on Monday, Oct. 6 at 3 p.m.
