MARS HILL, N.C. -- The 20th-ranked Railsplitters (4-1-1, 1-1-1 SAC) suffered their first loss Wednesday evening in Mars Hill, N.C., as the home standing Mars Hill Lions (2-4, 2-1 SAC) scored the game winner in the 82nd minute to nab a 2-1 upset in South Atlantic Conference action.
 
Lincoln Memorial has now dropped five-consecutive matches to Mars Hill, a streak that dates back to the quarterfinals of the 2010 SAC Championship.
 
The Railsplitters fell despite lofting a season-high 29 shot attempts with 13 shots on frame. The 29 shots were the most for the program since the Railsplitters compiled 32 shots against Brevard on October 12, 2012, a dominant 5-1 victory. Lincoln Memorial has not had 13 or more shots on target since August 30, 2008 in a 3-0 win over Barton.
 
Leonardo da Silva (Itajuba, Brazil) staked the Railsplitters to a 1-0 lead with a blast from 50 yards out at the tail end of the fifth minute. Da Silva's unassisted goal was his fifth of the season. Mars Hill answered less than a minute later as Thomaz Freitas headed in a pass from Amine Merdjett from 10 yards away.
 
The score remained locked at 1-1 for nearly 76 minutes of action until the Lions broke through for the game winner in the 82nd minute. Joao Caselatto punched in that goal after a nice passage of play between Scottie Melvin and Kenny Anderson, who combined for the dual assist.
 
The Railsplitters registered four shot attempts in the last seven minutes and change but only one landed on target. As he did throughout most of the contest, Mars Hill keeper Chris Mitchell stymied that attempt, a shot by Harry Solomons (Leicester, England) in the 85th minute. Mitchell played all 90 minutes in goal for the Lions, allowing only the one goal with 11 saves to his credit.
 
Lincoln Memorial outshot the Lions 12-8 in the opening half and 17-9 in the second stanza. The Railsplitters added an 8-4 advantage on corner kicks.
 
Yinka Lawal (Bromley, England) and Yuri Passos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) paced the Railsplitters with five shots and a combined six shots on goal. Solomons and Pedro Villa (New Braunfels, Texas) pitched in four shots apiece with five combined shots on target.
 
LMU's senior keeper Marcel Barwanietz (Berlin, Germany) also spent the entire match in goal, accumulating three saves with two goals relinquished over that span.
 
The Railsplitters will look to get back on track Saturday as they welcome the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears to the LMU Soccer Complex for a 3:30 p.m. South Atlantic Conference contest.