JACKSON, Miss. – The Birmingham-Southern men's soccer team defeated Millsaps in the final regular season game of the 2023 season on Saturday night. The win secured the #5 seed in the SAA tournament.

The opening few minutes did not see any great looks at goal. However, in the 15th minute of the match, the Panthers conceded the opening goal on a corner kick by the Majors. Needing to win to secure fifth place, BSC started behind. The Panthers struggled to get any great looks at goal immediately after conceding but grew into the game and put three shots on the Millsaps goal. Goalkeeper Michael Hamauei perserved the lead for his side until the end of the opening half. In the 41st minute, Vittorio Vopicelli whipped in a beautiful corner kick to the front post run of Max Albertson. Albertson flicked on a header to the back post where Patrick Kelly put it away to tie the game at 1-1 going into halftime.

In the second half, both sides traded a couple of shots off target as both teams did not want to concede the second goal. In the 60th minute, senior Pirmin Blattman served a free kick into the box where freshman Justin McDowell rose up for a towering header to give the Panthers their first lead of the night. The goal would be the first of McDowell's young career for BSC. The Panthers started to get more possession of the ball inside the Millsaps half after taking the lead and saw the game out defensively. They went on to take a 2-1 win on the night and clinch the #5 seed in the SAA tournament.

Records
Birmingham-Southern 5-7-4 (2-3-2 SAA),  Millsaps 1-12-2 (0-7-0 SAA)

Up Next
The Panthers will be on the road against #4 seed Sewanee on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 5:00 p.m. for the SAA Quarterfinals.