Carlinville, IL – Millikin University men's soccer secured its first win of 2026 on Thursday afternoon, defeating Blackburn College 2-0 at Blackburn Stadium. With the victory, the Big Blue move to 1-3, while the Battlin' Beavers fall to 1-3.
The story of the first half was all defense; the Big Blue would fire off seven shots throughout the first half. Of those seven shots five of them were on goal and saved by Blackburn Goalkeeper, Brayden Keys. Goalkeeper
Joshua Garrett was up to the challenge for Millikin, saving all three shots he faced from the Battlin' Beavers during the first half. The Big Blue would find themselves in a 0-0 contest headed into the half.
The first 15 minutes of the second half would prove to be the same as the first half.
Bryce Davis would come close to scoring the first goal of the game in 62nd minute but would miss just off the top right of the goal. In the 72nd minute, a shot from Davis would bounce off the hands of Keys and right into the waiting foot of
Blake Helvey who would shoot the ball past the goalkeeper and put the Big Blue in the lead.
Five minutes later, Millikin would add another goal after a header by
Robert Sambou was blocked by a Battlin' Beavers defender leaving room for
Olav Kaldahl to knock it in amidst chaos. The Big Blue would hold off Blackburn College through the remaining 14 minutes to lock in their first win of the season.
"The last few games have been leading to this moment, and to keep a clean sheet is a nice bonus," said Head Coach
Charlie Ward. "Blackburn put up a tough fight, but now we need to focus on taking this momentum into Saturday and putting some wins together.".
Men's Soccer will return to Decatur for their home debut, Saturday, September 12 at 6:00 pm against Rose-Hulman (2-1-1) and will be streamed live on the CCIW Network.
