Regular Season Concludes with Win for No. 10 Milligan Men’s Soccer

MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The No. 10-ranked Milligan University men's soccer team entered Saturday's regular-season finale hoping to put themselves in a position to earn the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament. They held up their end of the bargain, notching a convincing 4-0 win over Pikeville on Senior Night after a two-and-a-half hour lightning delay.

The Buffaloes have had another undefeated regular season, going 9-0-3 in conference play. With that, they will have to wait to see the result of a makeup match between Bryan and CIU in Dayton, Tenn. on Oct. 28 to find out where they will be seeded for the AAC Tournament.

Milligan outshot Pikeville 8-4 in the first half, including two shots on goal by both sides. One of the Buffs' two found the twine, as Justin Madejski placed a bouncing ball in the box into the back of the net in the 43rd minute to give MU a 1-0 lead at half.

Alex Panner would score in the 52nd minute on an assist from Madejski coming out of the break, and 11 seconds later, Boikaego Mbaakanyi got an assist from Panner to make it 3-0. In the late stages, Liam Lahsangah scored his first collegiate goal on an assist by Ethan Hayes in the 88th minute to make it a 4-0 win for the Buffaloes.

There was a 17-9 shot advantage for the Buffs in the game, as eight Milligan tries were on net. Panner and Mbaakanyi each accounted for two of those, while James Bakou, Marco Lattanzi, Madejski and Lahsangah had the other four.

Adria Alles saved all four shots that he faced in the bout, earning his sixth win of the year to go to 6-0-1 for the season.

The AAC Tournament begins on Nov. 1, as the Buffaloes wait to learn who they will play in the Quarterfinal round. If Bryan were to lose or tie against CIU, then Milligan would earn the conference's No. 2 seed. If Bryan wins against CIU, the Buffs will be the No. 3 seed. Either way, they will have a home game on Nov. 1 at Anglin Field.