Men's Soccer Takes First-Ever Matchup With Columbia (S.C.), 6-1

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

Photos Courtesy of Greg Spell/G-RoxPhotos.com

WALESKA, Ga. – No. 24 Reinhardt and Columbia (S.C.) lined up on the soccer field against each other for the first time in history on Saturday evening, and the host Eagles only needed one half of scoring to defeat the Koalas, 6-1, at Ken White Field at University Stadium.

The win pushed the hometown club's season record to double-digit victories at 10-0 overall and 7-0 within the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC).

"I appreciate the discipline of the players tonight as they executed the game plan we had in place as a team," head coach Joey Johnson said. "It was a team effort as everyone contributed to the positive result."

All the scoring for the entire night came within the first 41 minutes of play in the first half. Blake White got the fireworks started at 7:21 off an assist from Min Lee, and less than three minutes later, the cushion was 2-0 compliments of a White feed to Badr Laklech.

In what was Columbia's lone shot of the night, Breon Riley cut the deficit to 2-1 at 11:50 after nailing an attempt in the upper-right. Rafael Pais, however, would respond a few minutes later with another goal (from Laklech) before Pavel Dashin (26:20) and White (28:17) both found the back of the net for a 5-1 advantage.

Not to be outdone, Lukas Gerhardt got into the act at the 40:49 mark of the first stanza for the final goal on either side.

Reinhardt (four corner kicks) had 23 shots total, including eight in the second half.

Something has to give next week as Reinhardt (who is unbeaten) hosts Columbia International (S.C.) on Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m.

The Rams are 11-0 (7-0 AAC) and are coming off a 2-1 win over No. 12 Milligan (Tenn.).

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