Eagles Lose Close One To Life U

Waleska, GA - Reinhardt Men's Soccer were in action on Monday evening when they hosted Life University from the MidSouth Conference. The Running Eagles of Life were coming in with a two-game win streak to start the season off and Reinhardt was looking to rebound from their opening season close loss to Georgia Gwinnett.

The game would start off fast-paced and the ball was getting equal looks on both ends of the field unlike the start of the Georgia Gwinnett game from a week ago. Both teams had confidence and aggressive nature to the game as they passed the ball around, however, it would be Life that would get the first real chance on goal with a nice shot that starting keeper, Elijah Clark, had to slide and block to keep the score even at 0-0.

The game started opening up around the ten-minute mark in the first half and Clark and the defense were seeing things get busy on their end of the field. They held off a few chances by Life, but in the tenth minute, Life would sneak one past Clark giving them a 1-0 lead on the Eagles.

Clark's night would stay busy in goal where he would have six saves in the game with 9 total shots on goal. Andres Jorquera would help out the Eagles' attack pushing the ball up the field and getting a few shots on goal in the first half, but the relief would not last long. Around the twenty-second minute in the first half, Life was able to counterattack up the right side of the field and place a quick cross that rebounded off one of the forwards for Life which smashed the ball past Clark for the second goal of the game.

The Eagles would finally get on the board in the twenty-seventh minute when a foul was committed in the Life's box. Pavel Dashin would get the call to take the penalty and he did not disappoint the fans dressed in gold on the Reinhardt stands. He placed a perfect ball to the keeper's left that nailed the corner of the goal cutting the lead to just one goal down, 2-1.

The first half would end with the 2-1 lead by Life, however, Reinhardt was right in this game and could easily score to bring the score back to level.

Life would start the second half with several shots on goal, however, they did not bother Clark as he saved each one. The Eagles started pushing the ball into Life's half of the field, but the attack kept falling apart in the attacking end just in front of the goal. They had several chances to get a nice shot on goal, but it was just not happening for them in the game.

The game would go scoreless for most of the second half with the game seeming to be equal in possession for both teams. The Eagles were pressing hard and it appeared that they might get a really good chance to score, however, in the seventy-fifth minute Life would get a counterattack going again and a Life forward moved the ball up the left flanks to position himself just outside the goal area where he popped the ball just over Clark into the far side of the goal. This put Life up 3-1 and the game seemed to lose life at this point.

Several yellow cards were given for hard fouls and in the eighty-seventh minute, a life defender was given his second yellow resulting in a red card taking him out of the remaining minutes of this game. The red card will also result in the player having to sit out the next game as well.

Dashin would have a final shot on goal from a header that would go wide of the goal on a play where he got past the backline of Life. The ball just did not bounce right for him making the header not as hard as it should have been and finding its way to the left side of the goal going out for a goal kick.

The time would run out on the Eagles in this game resulting in another 1-3 loss. The Eagles had their chances in the game, but they still need to improve on getting a better attack going. They have started the season playing against some really talented teams and this should help them when conference play comes around.

Blake White led the Eagles with 3 shots and one on goal. Rafael Pais and Jorquera would each have 2 shots and one on goal.

The next game is Wednesday, September 7th at NCAA Division III opponent, Piedmont College where the Eagles will look to get their first win of this young 2022 season.