HARROGATE, Tenn. -- On the heels of a gritty, hard-fought win, the Railsplitters (2-8, 0-6 SAC) return to South Atlantic Conference play and square off against one of the nation's elite offensive units in a showdown with the Mars Hill Lions (3-4, 3-2 SAC), set for a 2 p.m. start on Saturday in Mars Hill, N.C.
 
Billy Kopsky (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Ryan Young (Mukwonago, Wis.) helped Lincoln Memorial snap a seven-match losing skid and pick up the program's second win on Wednesday, scoring four goals apiece in a 16-14 win over Colorado State-Pueblo. The Railsplitters reset their season-high for goals and ground-ball recoveries, picking up 39 in the match, but also allowed the ThunderWolves to hit their season-high mark for goals. CSU-Pueblo - in its first season of men's lacrosse - entered that match scoring just 6.71 goals per game, while the Railsplitters were allowing only 9.44 markers per contest.
 
Young's breakout performance - along with Kopsky's career-high four goals - helped the Railsplitters overcome that shaky defensive effort. Prior to Wednesday's match, Young had gone scoreless with only two shot attempts in his first six matches. The Mukwonago, Wis. native produced four goals on four shot attempts and scooped up a career-best three ground balls against the ThunderWolves.
 
Midfielder Adam Golia (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) also turned in the most productive outing of his brief tenure in the Blue and Gray in that win over CSU-Pueblo, matching a career-high for both goals and assists with a pair of markers and three helpers. Golia became the fourth LMU player to record at least five points in a match, joining Kopsky, Dylan Neisler (Detroit, Mich.) and Tylor Justin (Buffalo, N.Y.) with that distinction.
 
Following arguably its second-worst performance of the season, trailing only the 18-9 loss at Coker, Lincoln Memorial's defensive unit will look to bounce back against Mars Hill, who leads the South Atlantic Conference and ranks 11th in the nation in scoring with 13.86 goals per game. Mars Hill's offensive numbers are bolstered by the nation's third-best clearing percentage, as the Lions have successfully cleared the ball on 127 of their 139 tries. The Lions break through on 51.9 percent of their man-up chances and land 68.9 percent of their shot attempts on frame.
 
Mars Hill is coming off of a tough 12-10 loss to Tampa in Marietta, Ga. on Sunday afternoon. The Lions fell into an early 7-1 hole, but rallied to even the match at 8-8 with 2:03 left in the third stanza. The Spartans regained the lead just before the third period expired and added three goals on top of that to pace a 4-0 run that made it a 12-8 match with six minutes left. Mars Hill added two late goals to trim the final margin.
 
Senior Jimmy McBride leads the Lions offensively with 22 goals and 14 assists, ranking sixth in the SAC with 36 points. Anthony Malcom has scored 22 goals, handed out 12 assists and grabbed a team-leading 38 ground balls, while Ryan Sage has accounted for a team-high 26 goals and eight assists. All five of the Lions' top scoring threats are seniors. Addison Sowell has served as the team's primary faceoff man, winning 69 of his 132 trips to the faceoff "X". Nathan Stewart has grabbed 31 ground balls and compiled a 17-for-34 mark on faceoffs.
 
In addition to owning the league's best offensive attack, Mars Hill carries a SAC-best 9.27 goals-against average, ranking 22nd in Division II in that department. The Lions are ranked seventh in the nation in terms of man-down defense, killing off the penalty 77.4 percent of the time. Mike McKee leads the Lions in caused turnovers with 12.
 
Mars Hill's defense piggybacks on the shoulders of goalkeeper Jack Grinewich, who leads the SAC in save percentage with a 59.3 percent mark. Grinewich has allowed 59 goals and made 86 stops in over 360 minutes between the pipes, carrying the second-best goals against average in the SAC. LMU's Joe Medel (Virginia Beach, Va.) leads the SAC in that department with a 9.46 mark, while Grinewich has allowed just 9.81 goals per match.
 
First faceoff between the Railsplitters and Lions is set for 2 p.m. in Mars Hill, N.C. Live stat and video links will be accessible through www.LMURailsplitters.com.

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