MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The Milligan University men's soccer team returned to the pitch on Saturday afternoon, this time at home against the Columbia College Koalas in their first Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) home game of the season, after their original opener against Reinhardt University, slated for Sept. 19, had been postponed. After Columbia struck first and took a lead into halftime, Milligan responded with two second-half goals to pick up a 2-1 victory.
Milligan got off to a bit of a sluggish start in the first half. Columbia took four shots in the first twenty-five minutes and put a header on net off a corner kick that forced a save from Milligan's
Sergi Cruz. In the 30th minute, after a
Grayson Hammond shot was blocked,
Luiz Pereira was open after the rebound and headed a shot on goal but it was saved. However, Columbia responded to the threat with the game's first goal in the 35th minute to take the lead.
Marco Lattanzi nearly found the equalizer just two minutes later, as the Koalas' keeper needed a diving save to stop a laser from crossing the line. From there, Columbia regained their offensive momentum and controlled possession in Milligan's attacking half for the rest of the period, and the Buffs went into halftime trailing 1-0.
Milligan came out of the break and did a complete 180, looking like an entirely different team as they rode the sudden momentum. The physicality of the match ramped up as well, with three yellow cards and a red card issued in the second half alone. After
Trotter Jones narrowly missed the frame and a
Louis Folly-Castay attempt was blocked,
Marco Lattanzi scored the equalizer in the 56th minute after
Javier Salgado played him in near the corner of the box. Later, in the 71st minute,
Youseff Heggy connected with
Marcelo Marotta, who scored his first goal of the season to give the Buffs a 2-1 lead. Following the goal, Milligan didn't attempt another shot, instead digging in defensively and stifling any real opportunity for Columbia the rest of the way to close out the 2-1 win.
Despite being outshot 23-14 on the afternoon, Milligan held a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal.
Marco Lattanzi and
Grayson Hammond each led the Buffs with three shots, with Lattanzi putting two on frame including his goal.
Marcelo Marotta scored the game-winner on two shots, both on target. Felipe Magalhaes and
Luiz Pereira each put their lone shot on frame, while
Connor Mast,
Trotter Jones,
Louis Folly-Castay , and
Theophilus Williams each added a shot to round out the Milligan attack.
Â
Sergi Cruz made three saves in net for the Buffs, and his record moves to 4-2-1 on the season.
Milligan (5-1-2, 2-1-1 AAC) hits the road next, traveling to Bluefield University on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
Â
