No. 9 Men’s Soccer rallies past Union 2-0

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (September 15, 2021) – A pair of second-half goals by Victor Castel and Alexsander Krogh propelled the No. 9 Milligan University men's soccer team to a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Union at Anglin Field on Wednesday night.

Milligan remains unbeaten at 5-0 on the year and 2-0 in Appalachian Athletic Conference play. Union, who received votes in the lastest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll falls to 2-3-1, 0-2 in AAC action.

After a scoreless first half, Milligan found the game's first goal early in the second. Inaki Moreno raced up the left sideline with possession and lofted a cross toward the far post to a streaking Victor Castel. Castel volleyed the cross out of the air into the lower left corner of the net to tally his first goal of the year and give the Buffs a 1-0 lead in the 49th minute.

Perhaps Union's top opportunity to even the score came in the game's final minutes. Union fired a free kick just beyond the penalty box, but a diving save by Milligan goalkeeper Jan Kuepper knocked the attempt wide of the goal. Immediately afterwards, Union inserted the ball into the penalty area and attempted back-to-back shots in a chaotic sequence, but both attempts were blocked by the Buffs' back line. Milligan was able to clear the ball wide to end the threat.

With four minutes to go, Castel nearly added another tally after a lead pass up the left side by Charlie Batts. Castel caught up to the ball and fired it toward the far bottom corner once again, but this time the Union keeper made an impressive stop.

Just moments later, Milligan Castel and Krogh contested a short goal kick and a hard-struck pass back to the keeper ended up at the feet of Krogh, who buried his first career goal in the 89th minute to push the game out of reach.

Moreno nearly gave the Buffs' an early advantage with a beautiful chip into the back of the net, but the offside flag wiped the early tally off the board.

Union nearly found the game's first goal in the 21st minute after Kuepper smothered a Union shot at the right post. The ball trickled out of his grasp toward the goal line, but he recovered the ball right along the line to prevent conceding the goal.

Luke Bennett swiped a pass along the Union back line and fired a point-blank attempt that was denied by a diving effort by the Bulldogs keeper in the 37th minute. The two teams went into halftime scores with five shots apiece.

For the game, Union outshot the Buffs 17-15 and held a slight 6-5 edge in shots on goal.

Kuepper made six saves in the shutout effort.

The Buffs continue AAC play Saturday night at Point.