MILLIGAN, Tenn. – On Wednesday evening, the Milligan men's soccer team hosted the Lions of Bryan College at Anglin field. After overwhelming the Lions early in the game, the Buffs held the lead late in the game to win by a final score of 3-1. The win moves Milligan's overall record to 4-2-1 and their Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) record to 3-1.

In the opening half, Milligan found themselves dominating the pace of the play right off the opening kick, they controlled the ball for a majority of the period and found opportunities to score early. After Milligan's first five shots in only 15 minutes of play did not hit the mark, Kerim Akpinar broke the seal in the 17th minute and scored after receiving a cross from Kodjo Bakou to put the Buffs ahead 1-0. Akpinar nearly scored a second goal late in the first half when his original shot attempt was blocked but he regathered and sent a laser beam that was headed for the back of the net. Luckily for the Lions, their goalie was able to get his fingertips on it for the save. The Lions registered one shot during the first half that was saved by Adria Alles to protect the Buffaloes' 1-0 lead heading into the break.

The second half started right where the first left off with the Buffs in control. Following a penalty near the box on the Lions, Emir Basar had a well struck free kick that hit off the goal post, keeping the pressure on Bryan's defense. Five minutes later, Alles sent a punt from MU's goal box to Youseff Heggy who received the pass with grace and got behind the defense, capitalizing in the end with a goal to extend the lead to 2-0. Marco Lattanzi put the Lions away in the 78th minute after Asa Blake forced a turnover in front of the Buffs goal. He then dished the ball to Lattanzi for a chip shot that glided over the goalie's head and put the game out of reach at 3-0. Bryan was able to avoid a shutout however with a goal in the 83rd minute after a scrum in front of Milligan's goal produced a fortunate bounce that led to a goal. That made the final score 3-1.

Akpinar has now scored in four straight games, while Lattanzi and Heggy scored their first goals of the season. For Heggy, he ended up with the game-winning tally. In total, the Buffs took 22 shots in match, with eight of them being on goal. The Lions had eight and five, respectively.

Alles was forced to make four saves during the game, but he was unable to complete the shutout after giving up the late goal. His record moves to 4-2-1 on the year.

The season continues for Milligan on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Columbia University in Columbia, S.C. at 3 p.m., as the Buffs look forward to battling for a big win on the road in conference play.