Men’s Soccer overcomes Truett McConnell in penalty kicks to advance to AAC semifinals

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (November 4, 2022) – The Milligan University men's soccer team played 110 minutes of scoreless soccer against a feisty Truett McConnell squad in the quarterfinal round of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament on Friday evening. The game went to penalty kicks where Milligan prevailed 3-1 to move on to the AAC semifinals.

The game goes down as a tie for both teams as Milligan moves to 10-2-6 on the year and Truett McConnell finishes the season at 9-5-4.

Despite outshooting TMU 33-3 and recording all 12 of the game's corner kicks over the course of regulation and both overtime, the Buffs and Bears went to penalty kicks.

TMU initially had the upper hand as Milligan had its opening attempt bang off the crossbar and the Bears converted their first try. After Mate Lengyel evened the penalty kick count at one, Ludvig Wille provided heroics with saves on the next two TMU attempts. Elies Simo gave Milligan a 2-1 edge through four Milligan attempts. Truett McConnell missed wide left on its fourth try and Inaki Moreno clinched the Buffs' advancement with a make in the fifth frame.

Around the 22 minute mark of the first half, Greg Anderson played a through ball to Edward Burgos even with the Bears' backline. Burgos managed a few touches but could not muster a strong shot despite Milligan's best opportunity of the opening minutes. A minute later, Inaki Morano placed a cross right in front of right post but nearly missed a connection for the game's first goal.

With five minutes to play in the half, Lengyel sent a corner kick from the right corner to the left post where Albert Montragull connected with a leaping header. The ball was on track to clear the TMU goalie, but a defender booted it off the goal line to prevent the tally.

Asa Blake headed Zander Brown's long throw-in at the left post just over the crossbar in the waning seconds of the first half.

The Buffs outshot Truett McConnell 11-0 in the first half and recorded all four corner kicks in the period.

TMU's first shot attempt was a well-struck left-angled shot in the 56th minute that was snagged out of the air by Wille.

Following a free kick in the 61st minute, Simo sent a cross that hit the right post but the ensuing attempt by Hayden Grebb was blocked by several Bears defenders.

Moreno's cross found a leaping Anderson in the 69th but his header flew wide of the left post.

Jett Carter had a header nearly miss in the 85th and Simo blasted a shot inches over the crossbar in the 86th.

The two teams went to overtime with Milligan holding a 26-3 advantage in shots.

Brown made a one-on-one tackle 2:30 into overtime to prevent a transition opportunity in Milligan's final defensive third. Anderosn powered a shot into TMU's goalkeeper in the 97th minute.

After a long throw-in in the opening moments of the second overtime, Simo fed Lengyel, who's shot in the upper-left corner was tipped just beyond the goal.

Milligan will host fourth-seeded Union on Tuesday. The Bulldogs topped Reinhardt 2-1 earlier in the day. The Buffs and Bulldogs played to a 1-1 draw earlier in the season.