The Milligan Men’s soccer team opened their first game of the Appalachian Athletic Conference this past Friday, September 9th. The Buffs played against the Bulldogs from Tennessee Wesleyan. The Bulldogs got off to a steady start, scoring within the first twenty minutes of the game. Milligan caught up to Tennessee Wesleyan with their foul goal scored by junior Mate Lengyel. The Buffs were ultimately defeated, with a final score of 2-1.
“It was a tough game because it was our first conference game,” said freshman Nicolas Motau. While Motau did not play in this game, he is hopeful for the team’s success in the future.
“Everyone is trying to adjust, we’ve got a new coach, we’ve got new players coming in, and new tactics.”
It is a season of fresh starts for the players as they’ve faced multiple changes, including 9 freshmen and 5 transfers who’ve joined the team this year. The team is also adjusting to a new head coach, Coach Joe Barber.
”There was a lot of pressure to win…seeing that in our pre-season, we only won once,” Nicolas added. “The aim is to win the conference, we’ll do that by playing exactly how we’ve been playing.”
Despite losing the opening game, the players gained valuable input for their ongoing season.
“We won knowledge of where to improve,” he continued. “Even though it’s not the first match we wanted, I believe there’s much more to come.”
The men’s next soccer game will be an away game against Union College, taking place this Wednesday, September 14th. For more updates on Milligan athletics, please visit https://milliganbuffs.com/landing/index.
Headling photo from Milligan Buffs