No. 10 Buffaloes Men’s Soccer Ties Union, Bulldogs win AAC Title

BARBOURVILLE, Ky – The stakes were high on Wednesday night in Barbourville for No. 10-ranked Milligan men's soccer against the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) frontrunner, Union Commonwealth. In a game that could decide the conference's regular-season champion, a victory was necessary for Milligan to have the chance to take the crown, but though the Buffs gave it their all in the final minutes, a 1-1 tie would be the final result.

With the draw, Milligan continues to hold an undefeated record at 10-0-4, and are 8-0-3 in conference play, sealing the title for the Bulldogs at 10-0-1 in the AAC.

Union scored the opening goal of the evening in the 14th minute of the battle, making for a difficult path ahead for the Buffaloes. That tally would be unanswered in the opening half, but Milligan would hold the 7-5 shot advantage at the end of the opening set of 45 minutes.

The race was on for the Buffs in the second half, as they would need a pair of goals to grab a victory and have a chance to win the AAC. They were able to manufacture a header from Simen Haraldstad on a beautiful cross by James Bakou in the 80th minute, which noted the score at 1-1 with 10 minutes still to be played. Several late-game attempts were made by Milligan to find the tie-breaking goal, but in the end, they would not amount to an additional goal, sealing the tie.

Much of the possession in the first half, sans the opening 15 minutes, was dominated by Milligan, as it was for the vast majority of the second half. A 20-9 shot advantage was tallied by the Buffaloes, yet only six of their 20 attempts were on net. Johnny Salgado led the squad with four shots taken. Two of his four tries were saved. The rest of the shots in frame came off the boots of Haraldstad (goal scorer), Elies Simo, Alex Panner and Boikaego Mbaakanyi.

Adria Alles allowed one goal on three shots on net that he faced on Wednesday. The goal was on a laser shot from the top of the 18' box, and would not have been stopped by any keeper. Alles' record now falls to 5-0-1 with the draw being his first blemish of the season.

Milligan currently sits at the No. 3 seed in the conference after the tie, with just their Senior Night matchup against Pikeville on Saturday left to be played. If Milligan wins the match, a loss or tie from Bryan in their Oct. 29 game at CIU would clinch the Buffaloes the No. 2 seed. No matter the outcome of Milligan's match on Saturday, if Bryan wins, the Buffs will enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed.