No. 20 Men’s Soccer battles back to earn 2-2 tie at No. 23 Georgia Gwinnett

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (August 30, 2022) – Trailing 2-0 at No. 23 Georgia Gwinnett, No. 20 Milligan rallied with a pair of second half goals in the final 30 minutes to earn a 2-2 draw on Tuesday night.

Milligan moves to 0-0-2 on the year as Georgia Gwinnett moves to 2-0-1.

After a scoreless first half, Georgia Gwinnet scored almost exactly five minutes into the second half to take a 1-0 lead. A cross to the right post was headed wide to the left post to set up a close range one-touch goal by the Grizzlies' Diego Milessi.

Bickford staved off a point-blank shot off a cross from the left side but the first player to the ball was Emanuele Sordi, who blasted in the Grizzlies' second goal in the 58th minute..

Asa Blake struck back in the 68th minute to make it a 2-1 contest. The Grizzlies' had a clear attempt taken by Jett Carter, who sent a pass across the 18-yard box to Blake who juked left past a defender and fired in a shot over the sliding goalkeeper into the top left corner of the net for his first collegiate goal.

Goalkeeper Zachary Bickford made a pair of saves in the 76th minute to preserve the one goal margin.

The Buffs were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area with around 10 minutes to play, but the attempt on net sailed high.

Both teams managed 10 shots for the game. GGC owned a slight 6-4 edge in shots on goal but Milligan held a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks.

After a pair of Milligan corner kicks were rebuffed in the final six minutes of regulation, the ball was cleared to Buff defender Marius Grytdal. Grytdal sent a ball to the end line wide left of the goal where it was headed by Simen Haraldstad to the right post to a lurking Greg Anderson. Anderson headed the ball into the net for his second goal of the season to tie the game at two in the 86th minute.

The teams combined for a single shot in the game's first 25 minutes with no shots on goal. The first solid opportunity came 30 minutes in after the Buffs used a high press to win the ball deep in GGC territory after a throw in by the Grizzlies. Blake lined up a shot from the top of the penalty area that flew to the right of frame.

With about 13 minutes to play in the first half, Jett Carter ran down a ball up the left sideline and approached the six-yard box with possession, only to have his shot blocked by a GGC defender. After an attempted clear by the Grizzlies, Luke Bennett quickly re-took possession and launched a shot with pace from beyond the 18-yard box that sailed wide right.

With less than five minutes to play in the half, Ethan Bishop had a ball return to him after a long throw and connected on a high-arching shot over the keeper and off the GGC crossbar.

The Grizzlies logged their lone shot on goal in the final 10 seconds of the first half after a long ball up the left sideline, but Bickford saved the attempt out of play to bleed out the half.

Milligan travels to No. 15 Dalton State on Saturday.