Eagles Receive Program-Best No. 3 National Ranking, Dominate Koalas in Conference Bout

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

WALESKA, Ga. – Before its matchup with Columbia (S.C.) on Wednesday afternoon at home, the Reinhardt Eagles were rewarded for all their hard work the last couple weeks on the field with a program-best third overall ranking in the latest NAIA Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Top 10 Poll, the NAIA national office in Kansas City, Mo., revealed.

The hometown team – whose previous high in the national ranking was No. 5 – received 82 points in the rating, just ahead of fourth-ranked Benedictine (Kan.), who dropped from No. 2.

Additionally, two teams from the state of Georgia are now part of the top three squads in the nation with SCAD-Savannah (Ga.) owning the top spot.

To view the entire poll from the NAIA, please click here.

Reinhardt (6-2) would then take to the Ken White Field at University Stadium turf and completely overwhelm the Koalas from the opening whistle in a 27-1 rout to improve to 3-1 inside the Appalachian Athletic Conference.

"We rebounded well from our loss and put together a great game on both ends of the field," head coach Roy Reynolds said. "We were able to get everyone on the field and several scored first goals."

The Eagles were off and running before the fans in the stands could blink, scoring a pair of goals in the first 34 seconds and adding another at the 28:18 mark. Columbia got its lone score of the day on a free shot at 27:35, but it was all home team from there.

The hometown group would rip back the momentum and never relinquish it as Reinhardt totaled 17 goals in-a-row to end the first half ahead, 20-1. The second period would prove-to-be no different, as the Eagles complete the rest of the game on a 7-0 run to roll to victory.

Reinhardt outshot Columbia, 42-3, and picked up 43 ground balls.

Individually, Morgan McGhee (eight ground balls) was out-front with four goals, while three others netted a trio of shots and another foursome scored twice each. In total, 14 student-athletes registered a goal in the victory.

Katie Yarish, who scored twice, led the way in the assists category with seven. 

Scoring Summary
Goals: Morgan McGhee 4; Caroline Copenhaver 3; Audrey Frost 3; Adriana Talkington 3; Mackenzie Modica 2; Brook Villhauer 2; Katie Yarish 2; Katie Williams 2; Baylie Rueffer 1; Annalise Dowden 1; Jaden Thomas 1; Sarah Inman 1; Trinity McManus 1; Alyssa Klinger 1.

Assists: Katie Yarish 7; Audrey Frost 3; Amaya Garner 2; Morgan McGhee 2; Mackenzie Modica 1; Caroline Copenhaver 1; Katie Williams 1; Trinity McManus 1; Alyssa Klinger 1. 

The Knights of St. Andrews (N.C.) welcome the hometown team to their field on Saturday afternoon for a 1 p.m. conference clash.

For up-to-the-minute Eagles sports news, follow Reinhardt Athletics on Facebook, @RU_Eagles on Twitter and @ru_eagles on Instagram. 

For more information on Reinhardt Women's Lacrosse, please click here.