SPARTANBURG, S.C. – On Sunday, the (RV) Milligan University men's soccer team began their Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) slate one day after it was supposed to get started, on Saturday. The Buffaloes continued their prolific offensive output in a bout at Spartanburg Methodist College, scoring four goals en route to a 4-2 win to stay unbeaten in 2026.
In the opening 45 minutes, neither side was able to get on the scoreboard, as a combined seven shots turned into only two shots on goal. Those both came from the hosting Pioneers.
Early in the second half, in the 59th minute,
Marco Lattanzi notched his seventh goal of the young campaign. The goal set up by MU junior
Trotter Jones gave MU a 1-0 advantage. However, just over a minute later, the Buffs committed a penalty that was awarded following a VAR review. That allowed a 60th minute penalty kick, which was taken advantage of by SMC, to tie the score at 1-1. Following a 12-minute period without a goal, the Buffaloes earned the lead back on the first tally of the season by Jones, which was assisted by
Freddie Zinn. The 72nd-minute score was followed up by Milligan's third goal of the game, as
Grayson Hammond converted on a gorgeous header in the 76th minute on a feed from Jones. The scoring continued in the 79th minute, when the Pioneers got back to within one goal at 3-2, but the Buffs slammed the door on Jones' second goal of the battle just one minute later, set up by a long pass over the top from
Felipe Magalhães.
Milligan outshot Spartanburg Methodist by a 9-5 margin in the second half, which ended up putting the Buffaloes ahead 12-9 At the match's conclusion. Milligan had seven shots on goal to five for SMC. Hammond took the most shots for MU, unloading three times, with his one shot on net finishing as a goal. Zinn took a pair of shots, with neither ending up on frame. Lattanzi,
Zak Kersey,
Youseff Heggy and
Noé Bandi each had one shot on net, while Lattanzi converted his and the other three were saved.
Isaac Lizotte took the remaining shot.
Sergi Cruz came up with his third win of the season, stopping five of the seven shots that he faced in the tilt. His record moves to 3-0-1 on the season.
Milligan (4-0-1, 1-0-0 AAC) will be back on the pitch on Wednesday, Sept. 16 in Athens, Tenn., at Tennessee Wesleyan University, for a 4:30 p.m. kick off. The Buffaloes will be aiming to stay unbeaten on the campaign.
