It was the Battle of Two Top Ten Teams at Ken White

David Finney | photo by Gian-Luca Fahling

Waleska, GA - There was a playoff feel in the air at Ken White Stadium on Wednesday evening as Reinhardt Women's Lacrosse was playing conference opponent SCAD Savannah. The Eagles are currently ranked #5 in the NAIA and the Bees of SCAD Savannah are ranked #7.  It was just what you would expect from two top-level teams with top-notch talent playing each other.

SCAD would strike first scoring at the eleven-minute mark with a quick goal, however, Anna-Marie Gazzo would answer right back scoring a goal of her own to tie the game at 1-1.  The game would actually go this way from start to finish with each team scoring back-to-back goals. There were several ties along the way in this game. The Eagles would get down by two goals in the first quarter as it would end 4-2, but they would battle right back in the second quarter to get the score back to just one goal down going into the halftime break. Shelby O'Neil would score with a minute left to get the score to 7-6 at the half.

Alyssa Klinger would lead the way scoring in the first half with two goals. Mia Griswold and Macy Fulton would also have goals in the first half. Morgan McGhee would have two assists in the first half to help out with Gazzo's and O'Neil's goals.

Macy Fulton would get going early in the third quarter scoring to tie the game at 7 all in the first three minutes. The Bees did not waste any time to go up again as they would score two quick goals going up 9-7. Jillian Mello and Gazzo would score in the third to keep the game close, but SCAD would have an outstanding quarter scoring five goals putting the Eagles in a three-goal deficit to end the third quarter, 12-9. 

Many teams might fold at this point once they were down by three goals, but Reinhardt hung strong and scrapped their way back into the game. McGhee would score to start the fourth quarter. Klinger and O'Neil would follow McGhee's goal with their own goals keeping pace with SCAD who had scored a few goals as well. This same trio would each score again inside the eight-minute mark without any goals from the Bees. This would tie the game at 15-15 with about three minutes left in the game.  The Eagles battled their way back from being three goals down and the game had a look as if it were going to overtime. It was one of those games where just one mistake from SCAD and the Eagles would go up for the first time in the game. This is just what the fans want from two teams of this caliber going against each other.  Unfortunately, SCAD had a little more left in the tank in those last three minutes and they were able to score three big goals in those final minutes.  The Eagles had a few chances, but they could not get the shot that they wanted to keep in the game. The game would end with the Reinhardt on the losing end of a highly competitive game, 18-15.

Even though the game did not end in the favor of the Eagles, there will most likely be another match-up between these two when the tournament rolls around. At the moment, these two teams hold the #1 and #2 spots in the AAC standings so there is a chance they will face each other again real soon.

Alyssa Klinger led the Eagles with 4 goals and Shelby O'Neil was not far behind with 3. Morgan McGhee, Anna-Marie Gazzo, and Macy Fulton each had 2 goals to help the Eagles. Mia Griswold led the way with assists at 3 and McGhee contributed 2 assists as well. Jessie Landers had 5 saves in the goal for the Eagles.

Reinhardt will be back on the road for a game with St. Andrews in North Carolina this Saturday. They will return home for a Monday afternoon game with Keiser at 2 pm. This should be a highly competitive game as well with a playoff atmosphere. The regular season will be winding down over the next couple of weeks and the Eagles are playing very well and positioning themselves for a good spot in the conference tournament.