WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Milligan University's men's soccer team played their final regular season contest on the road in Winston-Salem, N.C., against the Carolina University (N.C.) Bruins. The non-conference matchup provided the Buffs a final tune-up before the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) tournament next week. It was a tightly contested match that saw Milligan score first, but after conceding two goals before the second half, the Buffs were unable to overcome the deficit and eventually fell by a final score of 2-1.
 
To begin the first half Milligan's Kerim Akpinar put a shot on the goal in the first three minutes, but Carolina's goalie saved the shot. After the threat to begin match, both sides worked to find space and the game became a defensive battle, until Federico Confeloni received a pass from Johnny Salgado and capitalized by scoring a goal. The goal came at the 17-minute mark, and MU held the lead until the 26th minute when CU scored to tie the game. Following the goal, the Bruins capitalized on the momentum and applied pressure to the Buffs goalie. Just before halftime Carolina added another to give them a 2-1 lead heading into halftime.  

The second half saw the Bruins playing to protect their lead. Milligan had four shots in the first five minutes of the stanza but were unable to score the equalizing goal. Following the attack from Milligan, Carolina took control off the ball and attempted to extend their lead but missed on multiple shot attempts. In the 75th minute Liam Lahsangah's shot was blocked, and despite late pressure from the Buffs they were unable to overcome the one goal difference and eventually fell by a final score of 2-1.  

A total of 11 shots were taken by the Buffaloes, with only three of those being on frame. The Bruins had 16 total attempts with five of them being on goal. Marco Lattanzi led the attack for MU with three shots and one on goal, while Kerim Akpinar and Youseff Heggy each took two shot attempts on goal, and a plethora of Buffs chipped in one shot.  

 
Adria Alles was between the pipes for 62 minutes before being substituted for Florian Quast. Quast played the remaining 28 minutes, but Alles will get the loss added to his record that moves to 4-4-3 on the season. 

Milligan now looks forward to the AAC tournament where they will host a Quarterfinal match on Oct. 31 at Anglin Field. The opponent will be the Eagles of Reinhardt University (Ga.) and the start time is yet to be decided.