COLUMBUS, Ga. -- Junior striker Pedro Villa (New Braunfels, Texas) pitched in a pair of goals, fueling a three-goal second half for the Railsplitters (1-0) in a 3-0 season-opening romp over the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (0-1) in the CSU Collegiate Invitational, hosted by Columbus State in Columbus, Ga. on Friday.
 
In the process, Lincoln Memorial avenged a stunning 3-2 overtime loss to the Chargers in the second match of the 2013 campaign, while improving to 10-13 in the all-time series against its former Gulf South Conference adversary. The Railsplitters continued a recent trend of dominance in the series, winning for the seventh time in the past eight encounters.
 
Despite holding the upper hand with a 9-2 edge in first-half shots and a 4-1 advantage for shots on goal, the Railsplitters settled for a 0-0 tie through the first 45 minutes of action.
 
It was redshirt-junior Leonardo da Silva (Itajuba, Brazil) who broke the scoring drought, striking off of an unassisted free-kick set piece in the 61st minute to spark the Railsplitters to a 1-0 lead.
 
Da Silva's score preceded a two-goal passage from forward Pedro Villa. The New Braunfels, Texas native notched the first goal of his junior season and the seventh of his career in the back end of the 78th minute, as he was the beneficiary of a mishandled kick by the UAH keeper. Less than four minutes later, Villa bulged LMU's advantage to 3-0 with an 82nd-minute goal off of a deflection.
 
For Alabama-Huntsville, Villa's two-goal outing was a familiar site as the junior forward netted two goals when LMU and UAH last met on September 8, 2013, in Huntsville, Ala.
 
The defensive back and goalkeeper Marcel Barwanietz (Berlin, Germany) held up their end of the bargain, posting a clean slate in which the Chargers were limited to only five shots and one shot on goal. Barwanietz erased the Chargers' lone shot on goal with a save on Kyle Simmons' attempt in the 7th minute.
 
Da Silva led the Railsplitters with five shots and a trio of shots on goal, while junior Yinka Lawal (Bromley, England) accrued three shots and a shot on frame. Villa scored his two goals on only two shots.
 
The Railsplitters will enjoy a day of rest before returning to CSU's Walden Soccer Complex on Sunday, September 7 for their second match of the CSU Collegiate Invitational, a noon bout against Shorter. Live stats for that match will be available.