HARROGATE, Tenn. -- A stiff challenge awaits the Lincoln Memorial University women's lacrosse team (0-1, 0-1 SAC) on Saturday, as the search for the program's first win continues with a South Atlantic Conference battle against the Coker Cobras (3-2, 1-1 SAC) in Hartsville, S.C.
 
The Lady Railsplitters opened the inaugural women's lacrosse season last Saturday, dropping a 21-2 decision to the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears in Gatlinburg, Tenn. Lincoln Memorial hung with Lenoir-Rhyne for the first 11 and a half minutes of the opening half, trailing just 8-2 after a goal by Autumn Beddington (Newburgh, Ind.) at the 18:35 mark. But the Bears outscored the Lady Railsplitters 13-0 over the remaining 48 minutes of regulation.
 
Freshman midfielder Bre'Asia James (Vero Beach, Fla.) collected the first goal in the history of LMU's women's lacrosse program, scoring off of a free position attempt just 4:58 into the opening frame.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne - who is tied with Queens for the SAC lead - mustered a 44-5 shot disparity, a 20-5 edge on draw controls and a 28-10 ground ball advantage.
 
Coker will present another tough challenge for the Lady Railsplitters in Saturday's meeting, as the Cobras are coming off of a 21-8 shellacking of Chowan on Thursday. In that match-up, Coker led by just four goals at the half before outscoring the Hawks 12-3 in the second stanza.
 
It's been a relatively up-and-down start for the Cobras, though, as they opened the season with an 18-4 loss to Mount Olive, then rebounded with an 18-7 win over Lees-McRae and a 20-12 victory over Newberry in the SAC opener. Coker wore a 17-4 loss to the Queens Royals last Saturday before storming through Chowan.
 
Coker is scoring an average of 13.4 goals per game and giving up 12.4 goals per appearance. Among SAC programs, only Wingate (148) and Queens (143) have attempted more than Coker's 121 shots this season.
 
The Cobras are led by freshmen Claudia Jenkins and Haley McCusker. Jenkins is the South Atlantic Conference leader in goals scored with 17, and she has added a team-leading 19 ground balls and 17 draw controls. McCusker has compiled 10 goals, seven assists and 14 ground balls. Additionally, Mackenzie Baker and Danielle Holcomb have contributed 11 goals apiece.
 
All three of Coker's goalkeeping options have started at least one game this season, but freshman Kaitlyn Vela seems to have grabbed control of the starting job. Vela has started the last three games, allowing 37 goals while making 14 saves over that 180-minute span.
 
Freshman Shannon Novak (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) will be in goal for the Lady Railsplitters. Novak performed admirably in her first collegiate appearance, tallying 14 saves and picking up a team-high four ground balls in 60 minutes between the pipes against Lenoir-Rhyne.
 
The Lady Railsplitters and Cobras get underway at 1 p.m. Saturday in Byerly Park. Live stats and video will be available via www.LMURailsplitters.com.