Columbia Men's Effort Not Enough in 3-1 loss at #4 Milligan

MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The Columbia College men's soccer team traveled to 4th ranked Milligan University on Saturday in AAC action. However, being down a man and a goal, Milligan, the 2023 NAIA National Runner-up, rallied and were able to overcome a hard-fought effort by the Koala men as they defeated Columbia 3-1. 

In the opening half, Milligan found themselves controlling much of the play in the early minutes of the game but, out of nowhere, the Koalas were able to turn a broken play into a goal and take the 1-0 lead inside 15 minutes from sophomore forward Aedan Bowers off an assist from senior midfielder Ethan Poungthana. The rest of the first half was a tight affair, but did not offer any clear cut chances for either team as MU held the shot advantage.

However, the momentum changed just a minute into the second half as a MU player was brought down in the box to force a PK. Milligan would then tie the game at 1 apiece from the penalty spot in the 46th minute. A similar scenario would play out again for the Buffs in the 60th minute as MU drew another penalty which was scored to make it 2-1.

The Buffs were down to 10 men after their goalkeeper was sent off with a straight red in the 72nd minute, but MU added another goal in the 89th minute to put the game away. CC senior transfer goalkeeper Chance King played a solid game in net making 6 saves on 9 shots on goal to fall to 0-1 in his season debut.

The Koalas fall to 1-6-2 on the season and 0-5 in the AAC while MU improves to 4-0-3 overall.

Columbia returns to action Wednesday afternoon as they host Pikeville (KY) at 1:00 pm from Younts Stadium.