MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (November 11, 2006) --- With two second half goals scored by junior Kyle Wilcox (Indianapolis, Ind.), the Milligan College men’s soccer team went on to a 3-1 victory in the NAIA Region XII Men’s Soccer Tournament Championship match. The Buffs, the No. 2 seed, overcame the rain, sloppy field conditions and defeated No. 1 seed Brescia (Ky.) University Saturday afternoon at Milligan’s Anglin Field.

With the victory, Milligan earned a birth in the 2006 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship scheduled to begin Wednesday, November 15, in Daytona Beach, Fla. The NAIA will release the National Championship bracket Sunday afternoon for the 20-team tournament.

Milligan will go to their first NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship with their first Region XII Championship and the Buffs increased their school record for victories in a season with 17 so far in 2006. Milligan adds the Region XII Championship beside of their Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) regular season and tournament championships won earlier in the season. 

Wilcox scored the go-ahead goal for Milligan at the 76:32 mark with a penalty kick. Milligan did not wait long for Wilcox to score again because he did 24 seconds later with an unassisted goal to give the Buffs a two-goal advantage over Brescia. During the NAIA Region XII Tournament, Wilcox scored three of Milligan’s four goals in the two matches.

Milligan tied the contest 1-to-1 with a breakaway goal from Said Abdi (Kismaayo, Somalia) with 1:07 left in the first half to give the Buffs momentum going into halftime. The Buffs had numerous chances to score at the end of the first half especially when Josh Stephens’ (Jacksonville Beach, Fla.) shot just missed going in the left side of the goal.

Brescia scored their only goal 34 minutes into the contest when Andrew Varnes put the ball in the back of the net with an assist from John Benson.

Senior goalkeeper Jordan Fode (Surrey, B.C., Canada) stopped four shots for the Buffs, including a key save in the 57^th minute when he tipped the ball over the top of the goal. Milligan was able to get 12 shots off compared to Brescia’s eight during the contest.