JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- Top-seeded Carson-Newman overcame a man-down deficit and scored in the 59th minute to hand the eighth-seeded Lady Railsplitters a 1-0 loss in the quarterfinals of the South Atlantic Conference Championship early Tuesday evening in Jefferson City, Tenn. The loss closes the curtain on Lincoln Memorial's season, as the Lady Railsplitters complete the 2015 campaign with a 5-9-3 overall record, while the Eagles improve to 16-2 overall and advance to Friday's SAC tournament semifinal in Rock Hill, S.C.
 
The Lady Railsplitters battled hard against a Carson-Newman squad that entered postseason play riding an eight-match winning streak, but the Eagles' potent offensive attack, even while playing a man-down, proved too much to handle.
 
Carson-Newman outshot Lincoln Memorial 15-11 in the match, but the Lady Railsplitters had a 6-5 edge in shots on goal. Four of the Lady Railsplitters' six shots on goal were registered in the opening half, and Michelle Hunter (Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada) nearly staked the visiting team to a lead with back-to-back shots on goal in the 43rd minute, but both attempts were turned away. The Lady Railsplitters also got first-half shots on goal from Kadie Soall (Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada) and Lauren Dusold (Spirit Lake, Iowa), each of which were halted by Carson-Newman's Jessica Fraiture.
 
Lincoln Memorial caught a break early in the second half, too, as Carson-Newman's Megan Peterson was sent off the pitch with a red card at the 53:53 mark, forcing the Eagles to play a man down for the remainder of the contest. The Lady Railsplitters got off another shot on goal seven seconds after that, but Fraiture blanked Soall's attempt to keep the match scoreless.
 
The Eagles produced the game-winning score at the 58:55 mark following a Lincoln Memorial foul at the top of the box. Varin Ness took the direct free kick from 21 yards out, curling a shot over the wall in front that bounced off of the right post and into the net for her 11th goal of the season.
 
The Lady Railsplitters put some pressure on the Eagles after that goal with a pair of Olivia Thompson (Melbourne, Fla.) shots - one of which was saved by Fraiture - and another by Hunter over a three-minute span from the 62nd to the 65th minute. But Lincoln Memorial would muster just one more shot attempt for the remainder of the match as Caroline Souza (Sao Paulo, Brazil) flew one over the crossbar in the 78th minute.
 
Thompson and Hunter paced Lincoln Memorial with three shots apiece while Hunter and Soall led the Lady Railsplitters with two shots on goal each. In her final match in the Blue and Gray, goalkeeper Kayla Stephens (Keller, Texas) made three saves and conceded the lone goal of the match to fall to 1-3.
 
Carson-Newman's Julianne Herrity led all players with seven shots and two shots on goal. Ness was the only other Eagle with multiple shot attempts, contributing two shots which included the game-winning marker. Fraiture made five saves and posted her sixth clean slate of the season to improve to 16-2.
 
The Eagles advance to the SAC Championship semifinals to take on three-seeded Queens, who crushed Tusculum 4-0 earlier in the day, on Friday in Rock Hill, S.C.
 
Quick Hits
The Lady Railsplitters' season was ended in the SAC Championship quarterfinals for the second consecutive year - Catawba won a PK shootout in last season's quarterfinal round match at the LMU Soccer Complex...The roles were completely reversed from the last time Lincoln Memorial played Carson-Newman in Jefferson City as the Lady Railsplitters won a 4-3 double overtime thriller during last season's regular season meeting despite playing a man down from the 63rd minute on...The Lady Railsplitters struggled mightily over the final month of the season, winning just two of their last nine matches