Running Eagles Take Battle of the Birds, 2-1

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

MARIETTA, Ga. – The Eagles nearly netted a second goal late in the final period against Life (Ga.) on Wednesday night, but a 2-0 hole was too much to overcome as the Running Eagles outlasted No. 23 Reinhardt, 2-1.

The loss dropped the hometown squad to 0-2 on the young season.

"Life played a very good game tonight," head coach Andy Kaplan said. "We were not sharp in the first half, and they scored a good goal to go up, 1-0. Then, we made a mistake and gave up a penalty kick right before halftime. Our team fought very hard in the second half and nearly scored to send it to overtime.

It's my job to create a more dangerous attacking team. We are going to work hard to get back to our winning ways."

The matchup remained scoreless until Life found the back of the net in the 28^th minute to go up, 1-0. About 15 minutes later, and right before the break, the Eagles were called for a foul in the box – which resulted in a made penalty kick and a 2-0 deficit for Reinhardt at 43:22 in the first period.

Kaplan's group never gave up despite being down by a couple tallies on the scoreboard, which resulted in Lauren Akemon cutting the lead to 2-1 off a nice find from Adriana Garcia. The drama wasn't done there, either, as the Eagles nearly tied the contest at 2-2 in the final seconds.

As a group, Reinhardt gathered 17 shots (10 on-goal), with Mila Bodin leading the way individually with five attempts.

Caroline Johnson again went wire-to-wire in the net and made seven stops. 

The club looks to get in the win column next week against Georgia Gwinnett at home on Sept. 8.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

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