Eagles Claw Their Way to 3-0 Win at Buffaloes

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The Eagles put a bow on the 2020 regular season with another blanking of an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) opponent – this time at Milligan (Tenn.) – where Reinhardt claimed a 3-0 decision over the Buffaloes after Adriana Garcia found the back of the net twice on Wednesday afternoon.

With the victory, the Eagles ended fall play with 12-straight positive outcomes and solidified second place in the AAC standings at 12-1.

"I'm really proud of our team," head coach Andy Kaplan said. "We lost the first game of our season in heartbreaking fashion in overtime. The entire team worked hard to recover and responded with a 12-game winning streak. We overcame injuries and continually improved over the entire season.

"We cannot wait to resume our season in the spring."

Garcia scored what would later be the winning shot in the 14^th-minute to break the scoreless tie. The 1-0 lead would double in less than six minutes after Jasmine Usher – the AAC Offensive Player of the Week – decided to defer to Brianna Smotherman for another goal.

The Reinhardt defense continued its strong play on this day as well, limiting Milligan in the first half and holding its hosts to 13 attempts for the match combined.

The Buffaloes wouldn't be able to crack the Eagles' defensive code in the second period, either, and would watch as their deficit got even larger at 68:11 when Garcia grabbed her second tally of the conference battle for good measure.

The hometown team put together 16 shots (11 on-goal) offensively while receiving more stellar play protecting the net by Caroline Johnson, who made eight stops for the win.

Reinhardt now awaits word from the conference on dates for the AAC Championship in the spring.

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