HARROGATE, Tenn. -- History will be made this weekend when the inaugural season of Lincoln Memorial University men's lacrosse commences. The Railsplitters are set to hit the road to Franklin Springs, Ga. on Saturday for a 1 p.m. nonconference tilt against the Emmanuel Lions.
 
Saturday's match is the culmination of a nearly two-year journey that began in August, 2013, when Lincoln Memorial formally announced the addition of men's and women's lacrosse as the school's 14th and 15th varsity sports. Ryan Kuhn was then selected as the Director of Lacrosse in November of that year, and the pieces have slowly but surely been laid in preparation for this moment.
 
"We're really excited," head coach Kuhn said. "I think our guys, from the staff all the way down to the players, are really excited to get on the road and play Emmanuel. It's been a long time coming and it's something that we've definitely had marked on the calendar."
 
Nerves are an unavoidable experience for college athletes, especially for freshmen embarking on their sports careers. The Railsplitters' roster is comprised of 27 players, 21 of whom are freshmen. With that many young guys beginning their college careers while playing a significant part in a seminal moment in the storied history of the LMU athletic department, Kuhn and his staff haven't shied away from the moment, but have tried to keep things in perspective.  
 
"It's a huge moment for the program and it's a huge moment for me being the coach of the program, but we're doing our best to keep the guys focused and not fall into all of that. We understand going into it that we want to start this program off on the right foot and follow in the footsteps of the great programs that are here. It's something that's in the back of our minds but we are doing our best to put focus away from that."
 
Kuhn added that this past weekend's scrimmage at Centre should help ease his guy's into the regular season.
 
"The initial anxiety was just getting out on the field and playing somebody else. The hope is that we got that out of our system last week when we scrimmaged Centre. But I think the guys have been really relaxed this week. We've had a great week of practice. We've done all of our homework and we feel pretty confident going into it."
 
Emmanuel is entering its first season as full-time members of the NCAA Division II and Conference Carolinas, one of the most competitive conferences in the nation. Last season, the Lions finished with an 8-7 overall record, notching wins over South Atlantic Conference foe Brevard while knocking off a pair of Division I opponents in Davidson and Wofford. 
 
"[Emmanuel] is very athletic and has a lot of guys that can get up and down the field," Kuhn said. "They've had some history with their program and had some success. We're definitely going to have our hands full with them."
 
Justin Mills leads the Lions into the 2015 campaign after earning All-League second team laurels as a sophomore. Mills paced Emmanuel with 49 goals and 65 points last season.
 
The Lions' roster is only minimally more experienced than the Railsplitters, with 10 freshmen and six sophomores on the roster.
 
Lincoln Memorial and Emmanuel get started at 1 p.m. Saturday.