#4 Reinhardt Rolls Past Tennessee Wesleyan 16-1 Behind Balanced Attack

WALESKA, Ga. — #4-ranked Reinhardt Men's Lacrosse used a dominant start and a relentless offensive effort to pull away from Tennessee Wesleyan for a 16-1 home victory Saturday afternoon, breaking the game open with a five-goal first quarter and never looking back. The win is the second conference win of the season for the Eagles and the third win overall.

The Eagles seized control early, scoring five unanswered goals in the first quarter and adding four more in the second to build a 9-1 halftime lead. Reinhardt then shut out Tennessee Wesleyan over the final 30 minutes, outscoring the visitors 7-0 in the second half to close out the nonconference win.

Bennett Morrison led Reinhardt's attack with four goals on eight shots, including three in the second half, as the Eagles continued to extend the margin. Nolan Marsh opened the scoring at 9:13 of the first quarter and finished with three goals and one assist on three shots, while Benjamin Shackelford directed the offense with an efficient six-point outing, totaling two goals and a game-high four assists.

Reinhardt's offense was balanced and persistent, generating 54 shots and 34 shots on goal compared with 18 shots and 9 on goal for Tennessee Wesleyan. The Eagles also controlled possession at the faceoff X, winning 18 faceoffs to the Bulldogs' 4, and collected 34 ground balls while committing only eight turnovers. The possession advantage allowed Reinhardt to string together extended scoring runs in every quarter.

Shackelford had a hand in several key stretches, assisting Morrison's third-quarter goal that pushed the lead to 10-1 at 7:56, then setting up Marsh and Luke Greer on back-to-back fourth-quarter tallies as the Eagles pulled away. Greer finished with two goals, including a man-up strike at 8:09 of the fourth, while Carter Garrison and Brian Loudenslager each added first-half goals. Joey Amatulli contributed on both ends of the field as well, recording two goals and two assists, including the final goal of the game at 1:13 of the fourth quarter.

On the defensive end, Reinhardt limited Tennessee Wesleyan to a single goal—a second-quarter strike by Reece Ringer, assisted by Madden Leslie at 13:39. Goalkeeper Michael Scoleri backstopped the effort with eight saves while allowing just one goal over the full 60 minutes. Tennessee Wesleyan's Jack Shaw faced constant pressure in goal, making 18 saves against 34 shots on frame to keep the margin from growing even larger.

Austin Scales (6), Holden Whitecliff (4), and Tyler Kirk (4) led the Eagles in ground balls, while Zach Dixon led the team defensively with 5 caused turnovers, followed closely by Bennett Morrison with 3.

With the win, the Eagles kept their name in the top spots in both the AAC and the NAIA.  The team will face Columbia College next Thursday afternoon at Ken White Field for another shot at a conference win. The game is set for 5 pm.