AUSTELL, Ga. – The Milligan University men's soccer squad opened NAIA Championship play in Austell, Ga Thursday afternoon facing off against the Generals of Louisiana State University Alexandria (LSUA). After an impressive first half where the Buffs put two tallies on the board, they added a third goal late to move past the Generals by a final score of 3-0.
Milligan started the NAIA Championship tournament with a threatening offensive attack. In the eighth minute of the game
Kerim Akpinar tested the Generals goalie for the first time by sending a header that wound up in the hands of the goalie.
Youseff Heggy continued the pressure sending a shot that sailed high of the net. Less than two minutes after his first attempt, Heggy capitalized on the Buffs continuous pressure sending a shot that could not be saved by the Generals, scoring an unassisted goal and giving the Buffs a 1-0 lead 11 minutes into the game. LSUA had their first real opportunity in the 17th minute when they sent a header towards
Adria Alles that he was able to save. The Generals had an additional sequence that nearly resulted in the equalizing goal in the 25th minute when they sent a rolling shot across the box that was headed for the corner of the net, but once again Alles was able to make the save and hold the Milligan lead. Just before the end of the first half in the 43rd minute,
Emir Basar received a pass from
Johnny Salgado and sent a laser beam that went through the LSUA's goalies' hands and into the back of the net. The goal extended the Buffs lead 2-0 heading into the break.
The second half's early minutes were an extension of the first half, with the Buffs able to control the game and take their chances offensively. In the 50th minute Salgado had his shot blocked, resulting in a corner kick for the Buffs. Milligan kept the ball in the attacking half which led to two additional corner kicks in the 50th and 58th minutes. However, the Generals started applying pressure of their own in the 64th minute sending a shot on goal, followed by two more shots on net in the 67th and 68th minutes. The pressing LSUA offensive attack left gaps in their defense and in the 74th minute Akpinar capitalized by finding
Asa Blake in the box, with
Trotter Jones streaking to the net for the tap-in goal. The goal gave Milligan a comfortable lead of 3-0 with fifteen minutes to play. Despite a late LSUA shot that rattled the cross bar, MU held onto the advantage and picked up a 3-0 win.
At the contest's conclusion, the Buffaloes trailed 17-14 in shots taken and the two sides were even in shots on goal, with seven apiece. Blake and Heggy led the Buffs attack with three shots apiece, and Heggy was the most accurate attacker with two shots that ended on target. Akpinar followed with the third most shot attempts and one of those shots ended up on goal, while
Justin Madejski, Basar, Salgado, Marco Latanzi,
Nathan Gilhooly, and Jones all took one shot, respectively.
Alles had a stellar performance in the net for the Buffs saving all seven shots the Generals sent his way earning himself a clean sheet.
