Courtney Ruth
Reporter
The men’s soccer team shut out Eckerd College 5-0 at home on Saturday.
“The team’s performance was on a positive level,” midfielder Alex Kimani said. “Everything worked according to the way we wanted.”
Leading the team with a hat trick was forward Stephen Townley. Townley scored all three of his goals in the first half of the game. Two of Townley’s goals came from assists from Kimani and midfielder Justin Fuller.
“I’ve been waiting two and a half years to play up front, so for it to happen and have results like this-I feel good about it,” Townley said.
In the second half, forward Phil Brock scored off an assist from forward Caleb Bollman. Kimani scored the team’s final goal with 25 minutes left in the game.
Goalkeeper Joel Wanyoike held Eckerd scoreless by getting three saves. Wanyoike, who has played the field in all previous games this year, said he feels comfortable playing any position.
Milligan went scoreless against Eckerd in their last meeting. According to Kimani, the Buffs’ desire to beat Eckerd coupled with Milligan’s home field advantage gave them the motivation needed to win.
Milligan faced Cumberland College in a home game Oct. 14 where the Buffs won 3-1.
Ali Mohamed scored two goals and Kimani added one goal.
On Wednesday, the Buffs lost to King college 3-4 in overtime.
Scoring for Milligan were Townley with two and Brock with one.
The team’s record is now 10-7-1 and they are 3-3-1 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference.
The team will finish their regular season with a home game Saturday where Milligan will face Tennessee Wesleyan.
Post-season play will begin Nov. 1. The team’s ranking in the conference will be determined by the outcome of their eight conference matches.
According to coach Marty Shirley, Milligan could be ranked as high as 3rd or as low as 6th in the conference tournament, depending on the team’s final season record.
Prior to season play, the team set goals to win the conference and to play in the regional tournament.
Winning the conference is no longer possible because of losses to Bryan College and Virginia Intermont, but the team is still shooting for the regional tournament.