Reinhardt Gets Sweet Revenge and Takes AAC Championship

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

Photo Courtesy of Truett McConnell Athletic Communications

CLEVELAND, Ga. – It's fitting that Reinhardt women's soccer got a chance to avenge its lone loss of the 2020 campaign – in the season opener at home – in the biggest contest of the year in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC).

On Wednesday night, the Eagles (15-1) traveled to Truett McConnell (Ga.) for the AAC Championship Final and came away with their first conference banner since 2016 after taking down the Bears on their home field, 3-1.

The victory for the Eagles, who had already qualified for the 37^th Annual NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship, was their 15^th in-a-row and a new school record.

"I have never been more proud of a team," head coach Andy Kaplan said. "We lost the opening game of the season in overtime to Truett McConnell, and our girls put in extra work and decided to do everything in their power to make this season special. They have set a school record with our 15^th-consecutive win.

"To avenge your opening loss in the conference final is about as good a feeling as an athlete can have, and I cant wait to bring our team to Nationals."

The matchup was a physical affair in the opening portion of the night as both teams tried to find their way and settle into the evening. It appeared that the clash was headed for a 0-0 tie at halftime until Reinhardt had a shot go high, which resulted in a corner kick – one that Adriana Garcia sent nicely in front of the goal – and it was knocked in by Truett McConnell at 8:20 before the break.

The Eagles waited until four seconds left to drop an exclamation point on the first half when Lidia Herrera found the back of the net off a nice feed by Elisabeth Dunlap.

The Bears wouldn't go down quietly, however, as they broke through on the scoreboard with just under 20 minutes left to put the pressure squarely back on the visitors to hold onto the lead the rest of the way.

Not only did the hometown team do that, it responded in an even bigger way with another tally off a corner kick as Brianna Smotherman sent her sideline into a frenzy compliments of Sierra Ruetten at 15:39.

Truett McConnell had a couple more chances to score late, but Caroline Johnson – who earned Tournament MVP honors for recording seven saves in the win – had other ideas.

Joining her on the All-Tournament Team was Dunlap, Garcia and Jasmine Usher.

The AAC battle was about as close as you could expect from the league's top two seeds, and on Wednesday, each program had 11 shot attempts.

Smotherman led the way individually with four.

Tune in to find out who Reinhardt will take on in the National Championship Opening Round on Monday, April 12 at Noon in the NAIA Selection Show. 

For up-to-the-minute Eagles sports news, follow Reinhardt Athletics on Facebook, @RU_Eagles on Twitter and @ru_eagles on Instagram. 

For more information on Reinhardt Women's Soccer, please click here.