Banks Brothers Help Push Eagles to National Semifinals

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Reinhardt is back in the semifinals of the NAIA Men's Lacrosse National Invitational after steadily pulling away from Lourdes (Ohio) after a strong second quarter in a 17-8 final score at Memorial Stadium.

The Eagles (15-0) started fast with four-straight goals in the first 6:01 – including a 1-0 lead in 36 seconds (Conner Mills) – before combining that effort with a 5-1 second period en route to the quarterfinal victory.

"Very happy with the win today," head coach John Snow said. "Everything is ratcheted up a notch in the tournament, and I thought my guys responded well. We had good, balanced scoring, and Kyle Banks was big for us today – had some important goals – especially early. My defense settled down nicely after a little bit of a slow start, and Matt Webb was huge in the cage as we were able to control the pace of play with our ground ball effort and good clearing game.

"I know we can play better and hopefully we'll show that tomorrow; but as I said, happy for the win and proud of my guys' effort."

The Gray Wolves rebounded nicely by netting three-straight shots to pull back within one at 4-3 with a minute left in the opening stanza, but the streaky scoring went back to the hometown squad's sideline after Reinhardt found the scoreboard six times in-a-row from the end of the first to the middle of the second for a 10-3 cushion.

Lourdes was able to stop the bleeding with a score at 3:35 before heading to the locker room down, 10-4.

A hard-fought third period would see the Eagles expand their lead by one at 13-6 before stepping on the gas once more with a four-goal string in the fourth to earn a game-best 10-goal advantage (17-7) with 1:42 left in regulation.

The Banks brothers, Gavin and Kyle, combined for a stellar performance with 10 total goals and three assists.

Gavin Banks – who was named the NAIA Player of the Year after the positive outcome – led all players with six scores to go along with a pair of assists.

Mills and Dillan Bousquet each earned two tallies and a dime as well.

In goal, First Team NAIA All-American Matt Webb made 14 saves in a full 60 minutes.

The team is back on the field tomorrow in the semifinals against Keiser (Fla.) with a spot in the Invitational Final on the line.

Game time is set for 4 p.m.

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