Lacrosse Holds Off No. 5 Keiser in Florida on Friday Night

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Top-ranked Reinhardt headed to the Sunshine State on Friday night and handed No. 5 Keiser (Fla.) its first defeat of the season in a physical battle that resulted in an 11-8 final score.

The Eagles (2-0) got five goals on eight shots from Gavin Banks, who paced an offensive attack that also saw Zane Anderson and Kyle Banks find the back of the net twice in the non-conference road win.

"Huge hard-fought win against a very good Keiser team," head coach John Snow said. "My defense played outstanding… We played a lot of defense today [because we didn't win many faceoffs], but my unit responded. A lot of young guys stepped up today on both sides of the ball offensively and defensively.

"Matt Webb came up big between the pipes with some really big saves. We have a lot of work to do to get better, we made some mistakes, but my guys showed a lot of grit today. Proud of them, and another tough game tomorrow."

The hometown squad jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one quarter of play thanks to scores from Kyle Banks and Riley Walker. The Seahawks would get into the scorebook at the 14:23 mark in the second period, but Reinhardt hit back-to-back shots in nearly two minutes (Gavin Banks and Anderson) to move ahead, 4-1, before Keiser hit another shot to head into halftime down by a pair at 4-2.

The third stanza saw a combined 11 goals, including three-consecutive makes by the Eagles to move -ahead by five, 7-2, halfway through the quarter. Keiser would respond in a big way by netting four of the next five scores to sneak back within two (8-6), but the visitors would punch back with two more goals to extend their advantage to four once again.

The drama wasn't done, however, as the Seahawks put pressure on the Eagles by scoring late in the third period and again in the opening minutes of the fourth. Both clubs would go up and down the field, but no one would find the back of the net until Gavin Banks broke the defensive pressure and fired in a score in the final minute. 

Matt Webb made 14 saves in the victory in-net after 60 minutes of action.

Dillan Bousquet had a pair of assists in the win, and defensively he added three ground balls. Jared Rogers was out-front in that category with four.

Keiser had 22 turnovers in defeat.

The team gets right back on the field tomorrow in a neutral-site matchup against No. 3 Lawrence Tech (Mich.) at 3 p.m.

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