[Men's Soccer] Late surge lifts men's soccer over Milligan
BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. – Montreat College men's soccer netted three unanswered goals in the final 17 minutes against Appalachian Athletic Conference rival Milligan College to defeat the Buffs 4-1 Saturday night at Pulliam Stadium. With the win, the Cavs improve to 3-1-1 in conference play and 6-3-1 overall.
"I'm so happy with the guys. They fought so hard and played with a lot of quality and heart," said head coach Michael Bruce. "Milligan is having a good season and they are a much tougher team this year. I think we really set down a marker today for how good we can be."
Raphael Duarte got his team out to an early 1-0 lead by netting an assist from Oliver Nuno-Rodriguez less than five minutes into the contest. Milligan would find the equalizer at 34:35 to send the game into halftime tied at one.
As the second half played out, it seemed as if the game was bound for overtime, but with 16:40 remaining, Montreat found some life on a goal by Brian Marcia Garcia assisted by Francisco Prado. Shortly after, goalkeeper Jesus Ramos preserved the 2-1 lead with a series of three back-to-back-to-back saves in a matter of two seconds to give the Cavs all of the momentum. Prado added a security goal off of a free kick from Seth Hughes at 84:04, and less than a minute later, Andre Dinca headed in a corner kick from Carlos Hernandez to give the Cavs a 4-1 lead. Milligan couldn't recover from Montreat's late three goals, and the Cavs secured the win.
"It was very exciting to see us score four goals against a tough team," said Coach Bruce. "Putting away chances is something we've been working on every day, so it's good to see that start to come to fruition."
In addition to his acrobatic series of saves in the second half, Ramos made a total of eight saves in net for his squad.
Up Next: The Cavs travel to Union College for another AAC matchup on Wednesday, Oct. 2. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET.