Eagles Begin the NAIA Playoffs with a Crushing 20-4 Win

photo by Angelina Ruiz

Savannah, GA - The Eagles began their three-game journey to take back the NAIA Men's Lacrosse National Title on Wednesday morning. The first round opponent was Ottawa University from Ottawa, Kansas who were bringiing in an 8-6 record inot the postseason play.  The Eagles were placed as the top seed of the tournament and the Braves of Ottawa were the last seed at #8.  Reinhardt made quick work of the Braves outscoring them 9-1 in the first half and then adding 11 more goals in the second half to win game one 20 to 4.

Brady Hanak and Cameron Cochran led all scorers in the game with both netting 4 goals each.  Cochran added to his stat line by dishing out 4 assists and Hanak had one.  JR Sess and Ethan Lux followed up with 3 goals each and Benji Shakleford was solid with 2 goals and 2 assits.

Defensively, Kollin Etheredge and Jason Marx had good games with Etheredge picking up 4 ground balls and Marx causing 3 turnovers by the Braves. Liam Wright had a great game in goal saving 17 from 21 total shots by Ottawa. 

Stefan Duckett led the Eagles with 7 ground balls in the game.

The game was decided in the first quarter of the game with the Eagles outscoring the Braves 6 to 1.  Reinhardt shut down the scoring in the second to give the Eagles the big halftime lead, 9-1.

With the win, Reinhardt moves on to the semi-final match up with AAC foe - Cumberlands.  Reinhardt and Cumberlands have had two very close games this season with the Eagles coming out on top by one goal each game. The first game was a 14-13 thriller in the regular season and the second was the semi-final matchup in the AAC Tournament with the Eagles winning 7-6. Although Cumberlands is a 4 seed in the tournament, they have given the Eagles the most competition all season and they could be the second best team in the tournament.  This will be a very tough contest for Reinhardt with the national title game on the line.  

Thursdays game with Cumberlands is scheduled for a 3 pm start in Savannah.  If the Eagles win, they will move to the NAIA Championship on Saturday, 1 pm. Friday is an off-day for all teams.