No. 4-seed Bluefield hosted No. 5-seed Reinhardt on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in a spectacular quarterfinal matchup at East River Soccer Complex. 

The Rams started off slow in the opening 15 minutes of the game, but turned it up as the half went along with numerous chances to get the go-ahead goal in the opening half. 

Rams outshot the Eagles 8-5 in the first half, but Reinhardt came up big twice as the half went along to keep it knotted at 0-0 at the break. 

It wouldn't take long though for the Rams to get on the scoreboard into the second half as Bluefield took the 1-0 advantage in the 51st minute on a curling ball in from the left side, as Delgado's near post run was flicked in for the goal. 

Reinhardt responded just seven minutes laster in the 58th minute to even the score at 1-1. Thinking the momentum was going to shift, the Rams responded incredibly well as they continued to try to find opportunities in behind Reinhardt's defense. 

Bluefield would take the lead on an individual performance by Joao Delgado, as he received the ball from the right side, took speak into the 18-yard box and put it low and hard into the near post of Reinhardt's goalkeeper to give the Rams  2-1 lead.

However, Reinhardt found the equalizer just 8 monists remaining in regulation to make it all square at 2-2. 

Bluefield nearly had the game sealed on a great counter-attack, when Jean-Emmanuel Ahouman slashed forward into the box and found Brian Vasquez unmarked, but Reinhardt's goalie once again made a huge save to keep it level. 

Just as expected, the game entered overtime at East River Soccer Complex. 

With under 15 seconds remaining in the first overtime period, the Rams found themselves with the ball at the midfield line with space and a potential transition. Loads of Bluefield players sprinted forward on the break, as Ahouman pushed it forward and would find Delgado on a beautiful slotted pass in behind two defenders. Delgado turned and curled the shot into the corner of the goal for the golden-goal game winner. 

It was Joao Delgado's first recorded hat trick on the season and for his Bluefield career. 

On the offensive side, the Rams outshot Reinhardt 20-10 and held a large advantage in corner kicks with a margin of 11-2. 

Its the second consecutive game Bluefield has won 3-2 in overtime and pushes their unbeaten streak to eight games in a row. 

Bluefield (11-6-2) will shift focus to their first-ever AAC Semi-Final matchup as they face #1-seed Union on Thursday in Barbourville, Ky. The last time these two programs met in the conference tournament was last season in 2015, when the Rams narrowly lost in PK's 5-4. 

Kickoff time for Thursday's semifinal is 1:30.

BL