The Stampede

Issue date: 9/26/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ashly Fennell Senior Josh Stephens races an opposing Covenant player for the ball.

Milligan men's soccer lost 0-1 on Saturday in a tense conference match with visiting Covenant College.

Head coach Adam Laney cited the fact that the team had played three previous games since Sept. 20.

"It was a good game," said Laney. "You could argue that it could go either way, the goal was an own goal, and we could have scored."

An own goal is where a team scores for the opponents by kicking the ball into their own goal.

Toward the end of the second half, the ball accidentally bounced off the foot of a Milligan defender during a struggle for possession of the ball.

Overall, Milligan had 12 shots, but no goals on the Covenant goal.

So far this season Milligan is 1-1 in the AAC and overall the men's soccer team is 4-6.

"We executed the game plan that we had in mind fairly well," Laney said. "We would have liked to have won. Losing on an own goal always hurts."

Laney said the team needed to move the ball more quickly and pass more frequently.

"We're certainly happy that we dug it out and that we won but you guys stayed in the game," said Scott Schindler, a Covenant player.

"Covenant is a very strong team that works hard and plays together well," said Gary Cassens, a senior midfielder. "They have an attacking mentality that made it hard because they kept coming at us. But we did the same for them, which is what made it the game it was."

Cassens said the team needs to keep working on defending and finishing the chances they get, though he has seen improvement in both since the beginning of the season.

Andrew Stewart, a freshman who plays midfield and defense, said the team should improve its intensity and performance.

"I thought that we played well for the majority of the game," said Stewart. "We created numerous opportunities, although in conference games if you blow a lot of chances you will eventually get punished, and that's exactly what happened."

"It was a good game but it wasn't our best showing," said Micah Ridley, a Milligan goalie who did not play Saturday. "We could have won, we definitely out played them."
"It was a close game and they were evenly matched teams," said Nathan Pifer, a Covenant fan who came to watch Saturday's match.

The men's next home game will be against Union College at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

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