Posted: Oct 12, 2011
The Fighting Koalas Fall to Milligan Lady Buffs
Milligan, TN -The Columbia College Fighting Koalas fought hard but eventually succumbed to a 2-1 defeat to the Milligan Buffaloes in Johnson City, TN, on Tuesday evening in AAC play.
Columbia got on the board first in the game, scoring in the 15th minute of the game. Clare Williamson corralled a ball in her own half, before dribbling past numerous players on the right side of the field and pulling the ball back to Jessica Martinez, who swept home her joint team leading 9th goal of the year. The assist was Williamson's 12th on the season, which has her in second in the nation in NAIA.
Milligan replied five minutes later, as Kelsey Jones was able to latch onto a Rachel Martin cross and turn the ball home, tying the game at one a piece.
The Koalas opened the second half strong, dominating for the first twenty five minutes, but were unable to find the back of the net as Buffs keeper Lauren McInturff made a number of quality saves. The lack of a cutting edge would come back to bite Columbia, as Milligan scored what proved to be the game winner with just over thirteen minutes remaning. Again, Martin was the provider, as her cross was this time bundled in by Jacklyn Orange, and despite a few late opportunities, Milligan was able to hold on for the win.
Milligan outshot Columbia 22-11 in the match, but only held a 7-5 shots on goal advantage. Columbia has nine days off before their next game, an away matchup against Piedmont on Thursday, October 18th.
Article submitted by Assistant Soccer Coach, Robert Hunter