Milligan women take wind out of Tornado

Photo By Kristen Luther Laurie Selman (5) of the Lady Buffs works with the ball.

By Wes Holtsclaw
STAR STAFF
wholtsclaw@starhq.com
The Milligan College Lady Buffaloes did something that will be essential come tournament time: They played a complete game without the domination of Bianca Spoto.
Spoto struck for the first Milligan goal, with 12:53 left in the first half, but her teammates stepped things up in the second half as three other Lady Buffaloes tallied goals to complete a 4-0 Lady Buff shutout of King College Wednesday afternoon.
"We won a game today where Bianca didn't dominate," said Milligan head coach Dave Dixon. "That's the first time that's happened this year. That's going to make us so much better. She set up players and she has to work and make the other players dangerous."
Milligan played tenaciously throughout the contest, but had trouble getting its kicks in the goal.
King's goalkeeper, Amy Patterson, with help from Annie Lavinder and Cassie Oliver, kept the Lady Buffaloes from scoring.
Where the Lady Tornado were tough, Milligan stepped it up to another level during the match. Andrea Breece made some outstanding saves, which undoubtedly helped the Lady Buffs retain their overall momentum.
Spoto finally broke loose late in the first half for the squad, dodging three King defenders before scoring on a swift kick into the outside corner to take a 1-0 edge into the second half.
The Lady Buffaloes rallied in the next frame, taking their time with many scoring opportunities. Things finally went their way again when Kim Morris had a shot blocked, only for Tanya Rupert to put the ball in the net with 32:26 left.
Deniece Kitchin set up the play of the evening for Milligan's next score, when she took advantage of a two-on-one before making the pass to Katie Lindermann, who swiftly forced the kick past Breece.
It wasn't long before Milligan was at it again. This time Kristin Zutt scored, after being set up with 4:43 remaining, sealing a 4-0 Lady Buff lead and eventual victory.
"I guess we decided to do something good," added Dixon. "I was pleased with the subs. King's a rival and our emotions were excited."
"During the first ten minutes, we did something, then we were caught up in their game," he said. "The players we subbed in played really hard. Hard work makes for exciting things and makes a huge difference."
Dixon was pleased with the effort of his subs including Lindermann, Rupert, Kitchen and Dahara Septemner.
The Lady Buffaloes meet Tennessee-Wesleyan on Saturday with a 4:30 game time.
"That will be a battle," he said. "They're organized and they have players that can beat you. It will be tough."
Milligan will be helped this weekend with the squad's overall health, which has been a big part of the team's overall success later in the season.
"Everybody's fully healthy and the team looks so much more cohesive," said Dixon. "Everyone's moving and creating opportunities."

Heartbreak for Milligan men

Photo By Kristen Luther Ali Mohamed leads the charge for Milligan.

The Milligan College men's soccer team took on conference rival King College on Wednesday night. The two clearly even teams played all the way through regulation and into double overtime that ended up with a King victory and a heartbreaking loss to the Buffaloes.
This now puts the Buffaloes at a 10-7-1 season record and a 3-3-1 AAC record.
Captain Steven Townley got Milligan off to a good start by putting a point on the board that was assisted by Justin Fuller.
Milligan attempted nine shots on goal in the first half compared to King's one as the Buffaloes went into the second half with a 1-0 lead.
Geoffrey Valencia recorded King's first goal on a header that evened the score up 1-1.
Philip Brock put Milligan into the lead again with a ripped shot from outside the box three minutes later. Townley was hooked up by Greg Hochstetter for his second goal of the night to give Milligan a two-goal lead.
King started off its comeback with a goal by Filipe Coaleeho that occurred 25 minutes into the second half. Six minutes later, Coaleeho tied it up with an unassisted goal.
The second half ended with a 3-3 tie as Milligan recorded eight shots in the second half next to King's two recorded shots.
It took two 10 minute sudden death overtimes for the match to be decided by a header from King's Valencia, as he recorded his second goal of the night and the game winner.
Milligan keeper Jordan Fode recorded three saves on goal for the night. King starting keeper Brian Crunk had 18 saves on goal for the match.