MILLIGAN, Tenn. — On Wednesday evening, the Milligan University men's soccer team hosted the Bears of the University of Pikeville in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) tilt. The Buffs had a tough opening half, in which they fell behind by a goal. Though they dominated the number of chances in the second half, it still was not enough, as they fell to UPIKE by a score of 2-1.
For much of the opening period of play, Pikeville maintained possession of the ball, totaling a 10-2 shot advantage in the half. The Buffs kept the Bears off the board for the majority, but the visitors broke through in the 36th minute off a corner kick that resulted in a trio of headers, the last of which found the back of the net. It was a 1-0 deficit for MU at the intermission.
Milligan played a stronger second half in terms of creating shots, but much of that was aided by Pikeville's reluctance to press while holding the lead. It was the Bears, though, that earned a gorgeous goal in the 63rd minute, doubling their lead. A half volley strike ended up flying into the top-right corner and giving Pikeville a 2-0 edge. The Buffs continued to press, but struggled to finish on offense, until the 88th minute when
Isaac Lizotte struck a pass that rolled along the ground off the hands of the UPIKE keeper and into the net from
Grayson Hammond's feed. Heavy pressure was put on the Bears over the last two-and-a-half minutes, but the equalizer could not be found. That resulted in a 2-1 Buffaloes loss.
The Buffs outshot the Bears 12-2 in the second half to end up with a 14-12 edge in that category. They also led 6-4 in shots on net. Felipe Magalhães was on target with both of his shots, while
Ilija Dordevic and
Liam Lahsangah took two shots and had one saved, each.
Freddie Zinn also tried two shots. Lizotte and
Luiz Pereira had the remaining shots on goal, and
Javier Salgado and Hammond also had shot attempts.
The Buffs' keeper,
Sergi Cruz, had a tough night, stopping 50% of the shots he faced in the game. His record falls to 8-3-3 for the season with the defeat.
Milligan (9-3-3, 5-3-2 AAC) will have to bounce back quickly, as they face the biggest remaining test against reigning AAC champion Union Commonwealth University on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 4:30 p.m. in Barbourville, Ky.
