Seniors lead the way in Women's Soccer win over Bluefield

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (October 27, 2021) – The Milligan University women's soccer team honored its six seniors during halftime and each contributed to the Buffs' 8-1 victory over Bluefield on Wednesday evening.

Milligan's record advances at 8-6-1 overall and 7-5-1 in AAC action. Bluefield falls to 0-14-1, 0-11-1 AAC.

Miriam Janoyan, Alex Thomas, Ashlen Burch, Isabella Cranford, Ellie Cachiaras and Sarah Owens were honored during a Senior Night ceremony during halftime. All six directly contributed to the victory on Wednesday evening.

Cachiaras scored in the 42nd, 52nd and 65th minutes to increase her season total to 12 goals. Thomas scored from near midfield on a free kick in the 72nd minute. Ownes scored her first goal of the season in the 76th minute, capping an end-to-end sequence for the Buffs. Burch sent home her fifth goal of the year after some nifty footwork up the right side in the 77th minute. Cranford helped the Buffs only allow one shot the whole night and assisted Caciaras' second goal and Janoyan picked up the win in goal with over 84 minutes of action.

Despite the lopsided final margin, the game was scoreless for the first 35-plus minutes of play. Hannah Chatterton got the scornig started off a corner kick from Burch. The ball took a big bounce toward the far post and Chatteron reached up a booted a high-arcing shot into the goal.

After Cachiaras scored her first goal in the 42nd minute, Autumn Daniels fired in a rocket from just beyond the 18-yard box off a feed from Chatterton.

The Buffs' seniors accounted for all five of Milligan's second-half goals. Bluefield scored its only tally of the day in the 85th minute to avoid the shutout.

Milligan outshot Bluefield 40-1 on the night and owned a 23-1 advantage in shots on goal.

The Buffs' win, combined with Columbia's loss at Point on Wednesday night, keeps the Buffs in the hunt for the No. 6 seed in the AAC Tournament. Going into the final game of the regular season, the Koalas currently hold the sixth spot in the AAC standings a 8-5 with 24 points. Milligan has 22 points at 7-5-1. The Buffs can clinch the sixth seed with a win Saturday at Johnson (Tenn.) and a Columbia loss to Tennessee Wesleyan.

The top six seeds in the AAC advance directly to the AAC quarterfinals, while the seventh and eight seed host first round play-in games on Nov. 2.