Season Preview: 2021 Women’s Soccer

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (August 24, 2021) – The Milligan University women's soccer team returns to action in fall 2021 after posting its fourth consecutive winning season in 2020-21.

Visual Preview | Coach Alyssa Whitehead Preseason Interview

The Buffs begin a new era under first-year head coach Alyssa Whitehead, who is set to begin her first full season at the helm after being hired in January. Milligan begins its women's soccer season at home against Warren Wilson on August 28 at 3:00 p.m.

2020-21 Season Review: The Buffs' 2020-21 season was highlighted by a six-game winning streak to open the season that saw Milligan outscore its opposition 23-2.

The Buffs' capped their season nonconference win over Warren Wilson in the season finale to finish with a 7-5 record.

"Even though I wasn't with the team last fall, I have major respect for them with having to play during a time where the majority of college programs just trained," said Whitehead. "I hope each of our returners gain confidences in playing during a challenging year and allow that to fuel the fire for growth and success."

Milligan played 11 of a possible 13 conference games and finished sixth in the 14-team Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) in terms of winning percentage with a 6-5 conference record. The Buffs were eighth in the standings according to total points and finished a single point behind Bryan and Brenau who tied for sixth place.

Milligan picked up AAC wins over Bryan, Point, Kentucky Christian, Columbia, Brenau and Bluefield. The Buffs fell to the eventual top five teams in the AAC standings: Truett McConnell, Reinhardt, Montreat, Tennessee Wesleyan and St. Andrews. Milligan did not play CIU or Union in 2020-21.

Due to Covid-19, the AAC's conference tournament did not include its usual 10 teams, but only the top four seeds from the regular season.

In the Buffs' 12 games last season, only two were decided by a single goal – a 2-1 victory at Brenau and a 2-1 defeat to St. Andrews.

Milligan outscored opponents 30-14 in 12 games last season. The Buffs' 2.5 goals per game average ranked No. 38 nationally and fifth in the AAC. Milligan ranked sixth in the AAC with a 1.17 goals against average.

The Buffs bid farewell to six graduating seniors, including starters Poppy Smith and Madison Hodges. Smith tied for second on the roster with 12 points (5G, 2) last season. Hodges, a team captain, concluded her career as a multi-year starter along the Buffs' back line.

2021 AAC Preseason Poll: The Buffs were selected as the No. 6 team in the AAC Preseason poll. Truett McConnell and Reinhardt split the top overall spot after the Bears captured last year's regular season title and the Eagles won last spring's AAC Women's Soccer Tournament.

2021 AAC Preseason Poll
Team - Voting Points (First-Place Votes)
T1. Truett McConnell - 216 (8)
T1. Reinhardt - 216 (6)
3. Tennessee Wesleyan - 191
4. Montreat - 181
5. St. Andrews - 149
6. Milligan - 141
T7. Bryan - 135
T7. Brenau - 135
9. Columbia International - 97
10. Point - 96
T11. Union - 67
T11. Columbia - 67
13. Kentucky Christian - 41 (1)
14. Bluefield - 37
15. Johnson - 31

Team Captains: Alex Thomas, Isabella Cranford

Key Returners: Senior forward Ellie Cachiaras returns after leading the Buffs in goals (7) and points (16) in 2020-21. She scored all four of Milligan's goals in a win over Columbia (S.C.) and tallied a goal in three other Buffs' victories.

Cachiaras ranked sixth in the AAC in points per game (1.78) and goals per game (0.78) and ranked second overall in the NAIA in shots on goal per game (3.33) and third in shots per game (6.33).

Junior forward Ashlen Burch returns after posting 12 points (5G, 2) in 11 games last season. Burch ranked second on the Buffs in goals and points and scored three goals and had one assist in Milligan's season-ending win over Warren Wilson.

In 2019, Burch was an All-AAC First Team honoree, led the Buffs with eight assists and was the team's second leading scorer with 18 points.

Graduate student Alex Thomas leads the midfield unit as a three-year starter and had three assists in 2020-21.

Sophomore midfielder Ella Sawa appeared in all 12 games and made nine starts last year. She scored in wins over Point and Warren Wilson and had an assist against Kentucky Christian.

Defensively senior Isabella Cranford returns after starting every game over the past three years. She was an All-AAC Second Team selection as a freshman and recorded a goal and an assist last season.

Junior defender Taylor Dawson enters 2021 as a potential three-year starter after starting 28 games over the last two seasons.

"Going into this fall season, we are returning a decent amount of players who have played significant minutes last year and even previous years," said Whitehead. "This is helpful with understanding the level of teams we are going up against once conference play starts up and the standard needed to have a successful season."

Newcomers: Milligan women's soccer welcomes nine freshmen and one transfer to the program in 2021.

No. Name Yr. Pos. Hometown
00 Brooklyn Smith Fr. GK Gate City, Va.
3 Shelby Knight Fr. D/MF Maryville, Tenn.
4 Emma True Fr. D Kingsport, Tenn.
5 Kori Barnhill Fr. MF North Beach, Md.
9 Autumn Daniels Fr. F Knoxville, Tenn.
14 McKinna Murr Fr. MF/F Alcoa, Tenn.
17 Jules Roska So. MF/F Cedar Point, N.C.
20 Makenzie Wilke Fr. D Madisonville, Tenn.
27 Sydney Locke Fr. D Chattanooga, Tenn.
28 Rylie Patrick Fr. F/D Bluff City, Tenn.

Looking at the Schedule: The Buffs have three nonconference games scheduled before a 14-game AAC schedule begins on Sept. 11.

In the nonleague schedule, Milligan opens its season by hosting Warren Wilson College on August 28. The Buffs travel to Pikeville (Sept. 1) and Thomas More (Sept. 4) for their final tune-ups before conference play.

The Buffs look to be tested immediately in AAC action as Tennessee Wesleyan pays a visit to Anglin Field on Sept. 11 to begin league action. The Bulldogs finished fourth in the league standings and were a conference semifinalist last spring.

Milligan hosts last year's regular season champions Truett McConnell on Oct. 6.

The Buffs' home schedule also features matchups with Union (Sept. 15), Brenau (Sept. 29), Bryan (Oct. 13), St. Andrews (Oct. 20) and Bluefield (Oct. 27).

Standout road contests include a Sept. 25 trip to AAC semifinalist Montreat and an Oct. 23 trip to defending AAC Tournament champions Reinhardt.

The rest of Milligan's away dates include trips to Point (Sept. 18), Kentucky Christian (Sept. 22), CIU (Sept. 9), Columbia (S.C.) (Sept. 16) and Johnson (Tenn.) (Oct. 30).

The AAC Tournament returns to its traditional format that includes 10 teams. The top six seeds receive byes to the quarterfinals while seeds 7-10 compete for the final two spots in the quarterfinals in a pair of play-in games. The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game are played at the higher seed in November.

Last Word: "Myself and the coaching staff are looking forward to growing the team into a program that is consistently competing with the top 4 teams in our conference," said Whitehead. "We have a solid combination of returners and newcomers to work with, the past two weeks have been great with getting everyone connected and we look for to continue to build ourselves mentally, physically, and spiritually."