HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Danilo da Silva (Campinas, Brazil) scored two goals and instigated another to help the Railsplitters (10-3-1, 7-3-1 SAC) knock off the Catawba Indians (5-11, 3-8 SAC) 3-2 and lock down the No. 3 seed for next week's South Atlantic Conference Championship in the regular season finale on Saturday at the LMU Soccer Complex. Lincoln Memorial, who will host their quarterfinal round game on Tuesday, celebrated Senior Day as well with a halftime ceremony dedicated to the program's six-man senior class.
 
The Railsplitters never trailed in Saturday's contest, but Catawba answered Lincoln Memorial's first two goals until the Railsplitters put the Indians away for good in the 59th minute.
 
Da Silva staked the Railsplitters to a 1-0 lead at the 9:15 mark when he received a long ball from Henrique Rezek (Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil) on the left sideline deep in the attacking front, dribbled into the box and blasted a shot past Catawba's Ian Orr inside of the far post. The Indians responded at 32:33, though, as Jack Ragen collected a quick pass from Connor Noonan in the middle of the field, turned around an LMU defender and ripped a shot from 25 yards out that curved into the upper left-hand corner of the net.
 
The Railsplitters regained the lead less than seven minutes later, however, on arguably one of the prettiest goals of the season. The play was initiated by Rezek, whose shot deflected to the left corner where it was scooped up by da Silva. After a couple of evasive moves, da Silva found himself in open space inside of the box, where he planted a shot inside of the right post to put Lincoln Memorial back in front 2-1. That was where the score stood at the half.
 
Catawba scored the first goal of the second half and drew the match back level in the 54th minute. After an Indians' goal kick, Jack Pettett pulled free on a breakaway and ripped a one-on-one shot that was turned away by LMU's Pedro Ozi (Sao Paulo, Brazil). However, the ball ricocheted directly back to Pettett, who made good on his second look to make it 2-2.
 
An eerily similar play on the other end of the field resulted in the Railsplitters' game-winning goal at the 58:57 mark, as da Silva drove up the left side and fired a shot in on Orr. The Catawba keeper punched out da Silva's shot, but it bounced directly to the foot of Rezek, who capitalized on that opportunity by driving it into the left-hand corner of the net for his fourth marker of the season.
 
The Indians mounted two shot attempts over the course of the remainder of the match, but neither landed on goal.
 
The two teams finished dead even with 13 shots and seven shots on goal apiece. Catawba produced a 7-2 advantage in corner kick attempts.
 
Da Silva, who now ranks second on the team with five goals, led all players with eight shots and five shots on goal while Rezek contributed three shots and two shots on goal. Pettett, Belony Joseph and Kenny Bonilla paced the Indians with three shots each.
 
Ozi made five saves and conceded two goals to improve to 10-3-1 on the season. Orr slipped to 0-1 after allowing three goals and making four saves.
 
Playing in their final regular season match at the LMU Soccer Complex, seniors Lucas Coro (Ribeirao Preto, Brazil), Nathaniel Johnson (London, England), Yinka Lawal (Bromley, England), Leonardo da Silva (Itajuba, Brazil), William Siu (Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil) and Pedro Villa (New Braunfels, Texas) were recognized during a halftime ceremony.
 
The Railsplitters are now set to host their South Atlantic Conference tournament quarterfinal round match on Tuesday at 2 p.m., welcoming the sixth-seeded Tusculum Pioneers to Harrogate. The winner will advance to the SAC Championship semifinals, which will be played on Friday in Rock Hill, S.C.
 
Quick Hits
With the win, Lincoln Memorial solidified its first 10-win season since going 13-4-1 during the 2012 campaign...Danilo da Silva has accounted for three goals and an assist in his last two appearances - he has played a direct role in each of the Railsplitters' last five goals...The Railsplitters improved to 12-6 all-time against Catawba and defeated the Indians for the 10th time in the last 11 tries...LMU played Tusculum to a 1-1 double overtime draw in the regular season meeting despite playing a man-down for the entire second half and the majority of the two overtime periods