HARROGATE, Tenn. – A man-down deficit proved to be too much for the short-staffed Lady Railsplitters (1-9 0-7 SAC) to overcome in a 15-2 loss to the UVA-Wise Cavaliers (1-6) on Wednesday in the LMU Lacrosse Complex finale.
 
The Lady Railsplitters' afternoon looked promising early as freshman Bre'Asia James (Vero Beach, Fla.) snuck home her 22nd goal of the season off a free-position opportunity just under two minutes into the contest.
 
Lincoln Memorial's early lead was short-lived, though, as back-to-back Cavalier goals by Stephanie Sintetas and Annie Henson - each coming off passes from Taylor Lawton - gave UVA-Wise a 2-1 advantage. Including those two goals, the Cavaliers finished out the first half on a 9-0 run as Henson, Sintetas and Lawton each netted a pair of scores apiece.
 
UVA-Wise extended their lead to 11-1 to begin the second half before freshman Autumn Beddington (Newburgh, Ind.) broke up the Cavaliers' 11-0 scoring run with her eighth marker of the season. However, UVA-Wise would tack on four more goals down the stretch as the first-year program picked up the first women's lacrosse win in school history.
 
The Cavaliers racked up a 27-13 shot advantage and a 28-21 ground ball edge as the Lady Railsplitters turned the ball over 24 times in the match. Lincoln Memorial forced UVA-Wise into committing 19 miscues of their own.
 
Lincoln Memorial finished the contest 13-for-21 on clear attempts, while UVA-Wise turned in an impressive 18-19 clear mark with 12 draw controls.
 
James paced the Lady Railsplitters by collecting a team-high four draw controls and seven shot attempts, while Beddington fired four shot attempts of her own to go along with one draw control.
 
Freshman backstop Shannon Novak (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) registered five saves on 27 shots attempts while collecting a team-high seven ground balls.
 
In coordination with the final home match of the regular season, the Lady Railsplitters celebrated Senior Day by honoring the program's six seniors - Haley Hilliard (Sterling Heights, Mich.), Stacey Dotson (Huntsville, Ala.), Ashli Motsch (Knoxville, Tenn.), Carly Cepelak (Tampa, Fla.), Kylah Endicott (Pineville, Ky.) and Ashley Handzell (Gainesville, Fla.) - during a pregame ceremony.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are set to conclude their inaugural season with a pair of road trips, heading to Brevard, N.C. on Saturday for a 4 p.m. SAC showdown against the Brevard Tornados. The Lady Railsplitters will complete the season at Young Harris on April 8.