Pais' Late Game Heroics Keep Eagles Moving Up

Cleveland, GA -  We're at the part of the season where teams are maneuvering around for the final conference playoff spots. The Appalachian Athletic Conference allows eight teams to move on to the conference playoffs and the final games will have a huge impact on where teams end up.  The Eagles have secured a spot in the tournament, however, the team is trying to move up in the standings to get in one of the top four positions where they can at least host the first playoff game.

The final weekend of the regular season has the Eagles playing two tough teams and both of them currently sit in front of them. Friday's match is with Truett McConnel and then the Eagles will finish with the Bulldogs of Union College on Sunday. Both games on the road where it is always tough to win in the AAC.

In Friday's game, the Eagles would work through most of the game with both teams being scoreless.  This is not a new position for Reinhardt as the stout defensive backline and goalkeeping keep the opposing team off the board, but on occasions coming up with a goal can be a difficult thing to do as well.  Elijah Clark had another good night in goal for the Eagles and had 3 saves from 4 shots on goal.  The Bears would get a ball past him in the 78th minute of the game, which had the Eagles on the ropes. However, this team does not give in easily as their season record shows.

Reinhardt would wait until the final two minutes of the game to make the game-tying score and move them from 7th position to 5th with the one game to go on Sunday.  Rafael Pais got a shot on goal right in the 88th minute of the game that found its way to the back of the net. The goal was Pais' 7th goal of the season and ties him directly with teammate Maxime Correia.  Correia has a slight lead on points with two more assists than Pais.

In total, the Eagles took 17 shots with 5 being directly on target. The team will definitely have to improve on this stat as they head to Kentucky on Sunday.  With a win, the Eagles have a shot to move into 4th position, however, many conference games on Saturday will have the same impact on the conference standings.

Reinhardt will have a day off tomorrow and travel to Kentucky on Sunday for the final regular season game. There are several games this weekend, which will have the standings moving around preparing for the AAC Tournament starting next Friday, Nov 3rd.