MARS HILL, N.C. -- The seventh-seeded Railsplitters (7-6-3) were eliminated from the South Atlantic Conference Championship with a 1-0 loss to the second-seeded Mars Hill Lions (9-7) in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday night in Mars Hill, N.C. Lincoln Memorial's season comes to a close with the loss, while the Lions advance to the semifinals of the league tournament, which is being held in Rock Hill, S.C. over the weekend.
 
Mars Hill scored the only goal of the match in the 35th minute as Amine Merdjett received a pass from Alex Mullen and rocketed in the eventual game-winner from 15 yards out. The goal was Merdjett's fourth of the 2014 campaign.
 
The Railsplitters nearly evened the match at the end of the first half as sophomore Harry Solomons (Leicester, England) put shots on frame in the 42nd and 44th minutes, but Mars Hill keeper Chris Mitchell turned both of those attempts away to keep the Lions atop the scoreboard.
 
Lincoln Memorial put two more shots on frame in the second half as junior Pedro Villa (New Braunfels, Texas) registered an on-target attempt in 73rd minute and senior Yuri Passos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) did so in the 83rd minute, but neither of those tries found the net.
 
The Railsplitters lost despite accounting for a 23-18 shot advantage. Junior Leonardo da Silva (Itajuba, Brazil) led LMU with six shots, while Passos and Yinka Lawal (Bromley, England) contributed three shots apiece. Four additional Railsplitters turned in two shots in the match.
 
LMU's senior keeper Marcel Barwanietz (Berlin, Germany) capped the final match of his career with four saves and a goal allowed in 90 minutes of action.
 
The loss was the Railsplitters' seventh straight to Mars Hill, while the Lions eliminated Lincoln Memorial from the SAC Championship for the third time since 2009.