Eagles Kick Off the 2024 Season with a Big Win Over Centenary

Waleska, GA - Reinhardt Men's Lacrosse officially started its season on Saturday with a game against NCAA DIII - Centenary College (LA).  The Eagles showed quickly why they are always one of the top teams in college lacrosse when they went up 12 to 1 in the first quarter. They went on to win big, 32-3, in the blowout win to start the 2024 season. 

The Eagles were led by Brady Hanak who had solid numbers throughout.  He ended up with 6 goals, 9 assists, and 7 ground balls. He was followed by fellow goal scorers JR Sess and Cameron Cochran. Cochran had 4 goals, 2 assists, 3 caused turnovers, and 6 ground balls and was perfect on his shots to goal ratio finishing 4 for 4.  Sess was the second-leading scorer with 5 goals to his name.

Several Eagles got in the scoring column as well. Newcomer Tyrique Robinson (Point University transfer) had 3 goals along with Ethan Lux.  Lux was an important piece to the 2023 squad until he was lost to injury about two-thirds of the way through. His absence was felt as the Eagles moved through the conference tournament into the NAIA playoffs.

Hayden Whitecliff, Benji Shackleford, Wyatt Maddox, and Stefan Duckett all scored 2 goals for the Eagles. Duckett was a workhorse in the field for the Eagles picking up an incredible 22 ground balls in the game.

Defensively, Reinhardt split time in goal with Michael Scoreli and the old veteran - Liam Wright. Both had good games with a limited amount of attack coming their way.  Scoreli ended up with 2 saves and Wright had 5.  Also, playing strong defense for the Eagles was the grad student, Jason Marx, who has been a pivotal player on defense for the Eagles over the past several years.  He started the 2024 season on a good note with 5 caused turnovers. Often the work of the defenders goes unnoticed in the box scores, but their efforts on defense are definitely what gets the attack moving.

The Eagles led from start to finish in this game with not a lot of threat from the Gents of Centenary College.  Things will definitely become more competitive as the season progresses.  The next test will be a home match on Monday afternoon versus Missouri Baptist at Ken White Field.