One Down, Two to Go

Pensacola, Fl - Eagles Men's Lacrosse moved one step closer to repeating as NAIA Men's Lacrosse National Champions. Keiser University was the first-round opponent and the Eagles were able to run away with the game in the second half winning convincingly, 16-6. The Eagles have faced Keiser three times this season and are now 2-1. The one loss came early in the season when the Eagles traveled to South Florida to play Keiser on their home turf. The Eagles narrowly lost, 11-12, which is the Eagles' only blemish on the 2022 season. The Eagles went on a run from that point on taking out opponents left and right and winning the AAC Tournament. The team is motivated and ready to capture another crown for Reinhardt - but this time under the new leadership of Coach Tyler Yelkin.

Coach Yelkin has picked up where the 2021 team left off and has continued to produce with a team mixed with tough, hard-nosed veterans like Dillan Bousquet and Jacob Pinson and talented youth like Wyatt Maddox, Carter Maurice, and Stefan Duckett. The team has the perfect balance to get things done once again, however, they have to finish the job on the field. After tonight's win, they will face Aquinas (Michigan) tomorrow evening at 7 pm. In the afternoon match-up, Indiana Tech will face Cumberlands (who the Eagles defeated in the AAC finals to earn automatic birth to the NAIA Tournament). The winner of both games will play for the 2022 title on Saturday at 1 pm.

In tonight's game, Cameron Cochran and Titus Thind would lead the Eagles past Keiser with Cochran scoring 4 goals and Thind scoring 3 goals. There was really solid play all the way around from the attackers to the midfield to the backline players. Dillan Bousquet had a tremendous game scoring 2 goals and throwing out 4 assists. Bousquet is always the "X-Factor" in all Reinhardt games as he can score, hand out assists, or make a tough midfield turnover that turns the momentum of a game. Tyler Wilkinson and Carter Maurice both had 2 goals each to help the Eagles as well. It is balanced play from a loaded roster that can play with anyone they face.

Liam Wright and the defense had a great game holding the talented Keiser roster to just 6 goals. Wright would have 6 saves in goal helped by players like Charlie Edwards, Matt Potvin, and Jack Hollis. The defense is solid and holds the opponents scoring down so the offense can do their thing.

The tournament will continue tomorrow with the 7 pm start against Aquinas. Look for the Eagles to continue their great play and compete for their spot in the National Championship Game. Check the NAIA site for updates on the live stream and stats. All the tournament games can be found on the NAIA channel on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUDKfTqgbIEQ-OOfts-n7ug