MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The No. 2-seeded Milligan University's men's soccer squad entered the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament Quarterfinal round on Friday afternoon with a home contest against the No. 7-seeded Eagles of Reinhardt University (Ga.). The Buffaloes scored in the very first minute of the battle and never looked back, totaling a 6-0 drubbing of the Eagles.
It was a stellar start for Milligan, as
Kodjo Bakou crossed a ball into the box toward
Johnny Salgado, and Salgado deflected the ball off the knee of a defender into the back of the net to give the Buffaloes a 1-0 lead just 47 seconds into the tilt. Just over 10 minutes later,
Federico Confaloni scored an unassisted goal after driving past multiple defenders and finishing to the far post on a tight-angle effort to make it 2-0 in the 11th minute. It was his third goal of the campaign. Then, in the 40th minute,
Kerim Akpinar notched his 13th of the season on a gorgeous assist by
Javier Salgado to the penalty spot, where Akpinar fanned on his first attempt but regathered to make it 3-0 at the break. Milligan held a 9-4 shot advantage in the first half.
Everything continued to be tilted in the Buffaloes' favor in the second half, with Akpinar notching his second goal of the contest in the 70th minute on a perfect assist from Youssef Heggy. Then, it was the
Ethan Hayes show that made an appearance on the pitch, as he scored two goals in as many minutes after coming in as a substitute in the 78th minute. He scored in the 78th minute on an assist from
Emir Basar and then yet again in the 80th frame from Basar. That sealed the deal, as the Buffs won 6-0 to advance to the conference Semifinal Round.
Milligan held a 27-15 shot disparity over the Eagles and doubled up Reinhardt's shots on frame with a 14-7 edge. Akpinar took a ridiculous six shots on goal in the battle, and Hayes and
Marco Lattanzi had the second-most with two apiece. Basar, Jo. Salgado, Confaloni and
Grayson Hammond tallied the other four.
For all the offensive success that the Buffs had, they had just as much from their goalkeeper in net, as
Adria Alles stopped all seven shots on net that he faced to preserve the clean sheet and push Milligan on to the semis.
Milligan will return to their home pitch for the AAC Tournament Semifinal Round, where they will host either No. 6-seeded Columbia College (S.C.) or No. 3-seeded Truett McConnell University (Ga.) on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at a time yet to be determined with their sights set on moving forward to the Final.
