Welcome Home: Eagles Explode on Warriors in Return to Waleska

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

WALESKA, Ga. – The NAIA's top men's lacrosse team returned home to Ken White Field at University Stadium on Saturday evening after one of the toughest stretches of games imaginable.

The Eagles came back from a grueling trip to Michigan and Indiana only to put up 22 more goals in a 22-3 victory in the first meeting between Reinhardt and Webber International (Fla.) on the lacrosse field.

"Happy with how my guys played after a long spring break – where we played four games in a seven-day stretch," head coach John Snow said. "The offense was clicking, scoring our second-best total since game one. We shared the ball nicely and were able to dominate time of possession. I think we shot close to 40 percent, which is very efficient offense. My defense locked down Webber and never really gave them too many good scoring opportunities. Loved our hustle and scrappiness on ground balls and riding.

"Nice overall team win for the guys. Also, happy that a lot of our young guys got quality playing time and experience, plus it's nice to get our first conference win."

• The hometown squad (6-0, 1-0 Appalachian Athletic Conference) was fueled by the opportunity to play on its turf once again, as the Eagles soared to a 6-0 advantage and then an 8-1 first quarter against the Warriors.
• Over the next 30 minutes, Reinhardt would hold Webber International scoreless while tallying 12 more goals for a 20-1 lead heading to the final period.
• Much of the fourth was spent getting the quality depth on the bench some much needed playing time against a conference foe.
• Gavin Banks was on fire on this night as he led all scorers with eight goals on 15 shots (nine on-goal) to pace the offense. Kyle Banks added four more scores while three other teammates found the back of the net at least twice.
• As a group, the Eagles had 13 assists on 22 goals, and were led individually by Dillan Bousquet (4), Conner Mills (3) and Zane Anderson (3).
• In the net, Matt Webb was victorious after 48:13 in the cage and five saves.
• The Warriors were forced into 17 turnovers and were only able to get the Eagles to have miscues on four occasions.
• Reinhardt controlled both the faceoff and ground ball stats (38), and JR Sess scooped up seven in the victory.

The schedule continues in 10 days with a road swing to Point (Ga.) on March 23.

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