Another Top 25 Knocked Off by the Eagles

Lawrenceville, GA - It is becoming a trend with Reinhardt Men's Soccer this season to make things very difficult for the NAIA-ranked teams they play.  To start the season, the Eagles have tied against the current #2 NAIA team, Dalton State, and the #18 team, Life University.  In just the past week, the Eagles knocked off fellow AAC member and #23 ranked, Columbia International, and on Saturday evening, the Eagles traveled to Georgia Gwinnett where they picked up the 1-0 win over the #12 ranked Grizzlies.

The one goal came at the ending moments of the game when midfielder Maxime Correia found teammate Rafael Pais. Pais, just as he has done two other times this season, smashed the ball in the back of the net for the game-winner!  This was Pais' 3rd goal this season and makes him the current leader.

Elijah Clark had another amazing night in goal keeping the clean sheet for the Eagles.  Clark has been a force in goal this season and is one of the main reasons for the Eagles' success.  Against the Grizzlies, Clark had 8 saves keeping the Georgia Gwinnett off the board. This was Clark's third clean sheet of the season.

It is clear that Reinhardt has one of the better backlines in the AAC and NAIA this season.  Led by Clark, Raphael Mospanyuk, Ivan Patta, Ian Brunet, and Brady Craig have been the rock that keeps the Eagles in games with a fighting chance to win no matter who they face. With a solid defense, the possibilities are limitless in any given game. The Eagles have proven this season that they can play with anyone and they are starting to take down top-ranked opponents.

The Eagles will start the final push through the AAC schedule starting Wednesday with an away game at Montreat and then a home game Saturday versus Kentucky Christian.  If the Eagles can take each game one at a time and work their way through the AAC schedule, they could find themselves back in the NAIA National Tournament. With their defense, all things are possible at that point.