RU Women’s Soccer Opens Up the Season Against #1 UC Patriots

Waleska, GA - A beautiful windy August gameday would carry the first signs of Fall and a new season. Reinhardt University had stumbled through some scrimmages early on in the semester, but Reinhardt enter the game with the hope that their luck will change alongside the season. The Reinhardt Eagles began with a Home season-openers against the #1 Univeristy of the Cumberlands Patriots, who took the National Title last year. 

The game started out, being mostly dominated by the Patriots, as Reinhardt struggled to find their way into the opposition half. Bambrick had a few key saves that kept Reinhardt rolling. Also a few counterattacks led by Riley Welsh through the midfield and the electric Vicente-Arche hitting the post and forcing a couple of saves were the bright spots of an entertaining first half of the game.

The end of the first half became more of a tug-of-war between the two midfielders as both teams attempted to regain control with neither gaining any clear ground.

Reinlights of the half:
-Sarah Bambrick's saves and footwork.

-Marta Vicente- Arche's post.

-Mattock's great defensive awareness to break down plays.

The second half looked to be starting with much of the same as Cumberlands dominated the midfield and in the 40th minute, Carola Fontan was able to break the deadlock for Cumberlands with a floated shot from outside the box that kissed the crossbar on its way down. The goal left Reinhardt on the backfoot as the UC Patriots continued to control the run of play until they scored again in the 19th minute of the second half with a nice cross and an open header into the back of the net to ultimately win 2-0 over the Eagles. However, Reinhardt refused to back down as a steal from Reece Wise led to a wonderful opportunity that went just wide of the goal from striker Belle Seward. Bambrick did well in the second half as well to keep her team's hopes alive, totaling 11 saves.

Reinlights of the second half:
-Beautiful play and work ethic from Reese Wise.

-Heroic saves from Sarah Bambrick

Though the result was not ideal, Reinhardt did wonderfully to remain in the competition with last year's national champions, and it was the small differences that made the largest impact on the game. They'll be looking to change their luck in a home match-up against Life University on Saturday, August 24th at 7pm.