MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The Milligan University men's soccer squad, seeded at No. 2 in the AAC Tournament, hosted the Truett McConnell University (Ga.) Bears on Anglin Field with a chance to earn a trip to the AAC Tournament Final on Saturday. With the top-seeded Bulldogs of Union Commonwealth winning their match earlier in the afternoon, the Buffaloes could also sew up an automatic NAIA National Tournament berth with a victory over the Bears on Tuesday night. That is exactly what the Buffs did, scoring once in the second half to pitch a 1-0 shutout.

It was a fairly even opening half, in which shots were a 7-4 edge for the Buffaloes, however, three of the fourth shots taken by TMU were on frame and necessitated a save by Adria Alles. A pair of the saves by Alles were particularly difficult, as one was a header that he had to leap for to direct it over the crossbar. On the other side, only one Milligan attack challenged the Bears' keeper in the first half. The game would go scoreless into its second half.

The early moments of the second period brought elation for the Buffaloes, as the team's first shot of the half was a frozen rope to the top-right corner of the net by Marco Lattanzi to give MU the 1-0 lead in the 52nd minute of the contest. Federico Confaloni served the ball up on a platter for Lattanzi, and the senior from Madrid, Spain did not disappoint. Just under eight minutes later, Lattanzi tried to grab himself a brace with a shot off a volley that hit the left post and bounced back into play. Milligan had only one more shot after that point, as they fought off Truett McConnell's advances for the remainder of the contest, allowing just one shot on goal, which was saved. Milligan took the 1-0 win and clinched a spot in the AAC Final, as well as an automatic nationals berth.

Milligan ended up being outshot 12-11 at the conclusion of the battle. Lattanzi was the star of the match, taking four shots with just the one that hit the twine ending up on frame. The only other Buffs shot on goal in the game was from Emir Basar. Kerim Akpinar took three shots and Youssef Heggy supplied a pair, while Johnny Salgado took the one remaining swing.

Alles, while not tested too many times, proved himself on multiple occasions in the match to earn another triumph and push his season record to 9-5-2.

Next up is a huge chance to earn the right to be named the AAC Tournament Champion, as the Buffaloes head to undefeated Union Commonwealth University (Ky.) to face the Bulldogs on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 4 p.m. in Barbourville, Ky.