BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C.— The Montreat men's soccer team pushed the 12^th-ranked Milligan University Buffaloes to their limit on Saturday but ultimately dropped a narrow 2-1 decision to the visitors.
 
With the defeat, the Cavs move to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC).
 
Milligan (7-1, 4-1 AAC) nearly jumped on the board in the opening 30 seconds after a giveaway by the Cavaliers in the back line. Odin Solheim pounced on the opportunity and hurled a shot toward goal, but Jesus Ramos stood tall in his box and made an important early save.
 
The Buffaloes remained on the front foot for the first 10 minutes of the half, but the Cavaliers withstood the pressure and started to produce opportunities of their own. Montreat created three corner kicks and four shots over the span of 12 minutes, culminating in a Carlos Hernandez strike that forced Jan Kuepper to make a save.
 
As the first half progressed, Milligan had chances to break the 0-0 deadlock, but the Buffaloes failed to put several decent looks on target.
 
Still locked in a scoreless battle, the first moment of brilliance came from Hernandez in the 58^th minute. After a Milligan foul near the half-circle, Hernandez lined up a free kick from roughly 22 yards out. Hernandez whipped a right-footed blast past the Milligan wall and around Kuepper for the match's first goal and the Montreat 1-0 lead.
 
Montreat's lead proved to be short-lived as Milligan equalized just 110 seconds later. Odin Solheim headed a shot on frame off a Buffaloes corner kick, but the rebound fell loose in the box. Alex Frances capitalized, stepping up to the free ball and powering home the equalizer.
 
Finally getting a shot by Ramos spurred the Milligan attack to press even higher. With that pressure building, the Buffaloes seemed poised to take the lead. In the 69^th minute, they did. Ethan Bishop set up for a long throw-in on the left sideline. His toss landed in the box,short-hopped Ramos and fortuitously bounced out to Jett Carter near the penalty spot. Carter did the rest and placed a strike through traffic and into the net.
 
Trailing 2-1, Montreat had 20 minutes to find a goal. The Cavaliers came close on a few occasions, including in the final minute. Hugo Rodriguez closed in on goal and forced Kuepper to make a save, resulting in Montreat's 10^th corner kick of evening. But no matter how close the Cavaliers came, Kuepper and the Milligan defense forced just enough stops to preserve a 2-1 win.
 
"I was very happy with the way the guys competed tonight," said head coach Michael Bruce. "They fought until the very end against a top team and were unfortunate to come out on the losing side. If we continue with this spirit for the rest of the season, we will do well."
 
Montreat men's soccer will look to get back into the win column on Wednesday when they travel to Columbia, S.C. for an AAC clash at Columbia International University.