SALISBURY, N.C. -- The Railsplitters (7-4-3, 4-3-3 SAC) suffered a 1-0 setback, their first loss since October 1, to the Catawba Indians (5-9-2, 2-6-2 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer action Saturday night in Salisbury, N.C. The loss snapped Lincoln Memorial's streak of five consecutive appearances without a loss.
 
Prior to Saturday, The Railsplitters had not dropped a decision to the Indians since the 2006 season, ripping off nine straight wins over that span. Lincoln Memorial has not been shut out by Catawba since suffering a 3-0 loss way back in 1994.
 
Catawba's Declan Stimson was responsible for the lone goal of the match as he was on the receiving end of long ball from midfielder Heitor Vinci in the 65th minute. Stimson redirected the Vinci feed into the net to propel the Indians to the victory.
 
The Railsplitters threatened to strike for the equalizer on three separate occasions following Stimson's goal. William Siu (Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil) put a shot on frame in the 69th minute, while George Burne (Carlisle, England) and George Cant (Ockbrook, England) did so in the 84th and 86th minutes, but Catawba keeper Christian Watts deflected all three attempts to keep the clean slate intact.
 
Lincoln Memorial and Catawba matched one another in shot attempts as the two squads tallied nine shots apiece, but the Indians accounted for a 6-4 edge in shots on target. Along with the three second-half shots on goal, Siu issued the Railsplitters' fourth on target attempt in the 45th minute.
 
Siu, along with junior Yinka Lawal (Bromley, England), paced the Railsplitters with two shots apiece.
 
Senior keeper Marcel Barwanietz (Berlin, Germany) spent all 90 minutes in net for the Railsplitters, raking in five saves while allowing one goal over that span. His counterpart, Christian Watts, posted four saves without a goal allowed in 90 minutes of work.
 
The loss dropped the Railsplitters back to sixth in the South Atlantic Conference standings with one league bout remaining on the regular season schedule. The top four teams in the final SAC standings earn the privilege of hosting their quarterfinal match-up of the SAC tournament.
 
The Railsplitters break from SAC play briefly on Tuesday, October 28, traveling to Nashville, Tenn. for an 8:30 p.m. kickoff against the Trevecca-Nazarene Trojans.