CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (1-0-1) get their last nonconference tune-up in preparation for South Atlantic Conference play on Sunday afternoon as they head to Cleveland, Tenn. for an NCAA Division II women's soccer showdown against a hungry Lee Flames (0-2-1) squad, with kickoff set for 4 p.m. at the Lee Soccer Field.
 
Lincoln Memorial opened its 2015 campaign with back-to-back, double overtime barn burners this past weekend in Montevallo, Ala.
 
In the season lid lifter, the Lady Railsplitters fell behind West Alabama, 2-0, less than 10 minutes into the match before erasing that deficit prior to halftime. The Tigers regained the lead in the 70th minute but the Lady Railsplitters knotted it at 3-3 in the 81st minute on Olivia Thompson's (Melbourne, Fla.) first goal of her senior season. After ending regulation and the first 10-minute overtime with the match still tied, freshman Claire Leasure (Franklin, Tenn.), who assisted on Thompson's game-tying score, knocked in the game-winner in the 104th minute.
 
Two days later, the Lady Railsplitters played host Montevallo to a 0-0 double overtime draw. That came in spite of the fact that they outshot the Falcons, 22-11, and amassed a 10-2 advantage on corner kick attempts. Leasure led LMU with five shots while Michelle Hunter (Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada) and Josefin Hedstrom (Burtrask, Sweden) collected four shots apiece.
 
After a less than stellar performance against West Alabama, the Lady Railsplitters' defensive unit and goalkeeper Kathryn Lundy (Pinckney, Mich.) were outstanding in the match at Montevallo, a trend that will need to persist against a Lee team hungry for goals. Lundy made a career-high five saves and posted her first collegiate shutout over 110 minutes versus the Falcons. She also made five saves, and allowed three goals, in the win over West Alabama.
 
Through the team's first two matches, Leasure leads the Lady Railsplitters with seven shots and five shots on target. Hunter has five attempts and two shots on goal. Thompson has four shots, all of which have landed on goal.
 
The Lady Railsplitters will still have two nonconference matches left on the schedule after this one but not before South Atlantic Conference play begins on Wednesday at Brevard.
 
Live stats and a video broadcast of Sunday's match will be available at www.LMURailsplitters.com. Fans can also get live updates via the official Twitter page of LMU Athletics (@LMURailsplitter), where they can join the conversation by using the hashtag #LMUWSOC.
 
Know the Opponent

Lee (4 p.m.) - Live Stats | Video
 
In the University's first season being eligible for Gulf South Conference and NCAA Division II championship competition, the Lee Flames women's soccer program has some lofty expectations, as they were the unanimous preseason selection to capture the GSC crown. That is standard the Flames are certainly capable of meeting after finishing 10-1 in GSC play and 15-4-2 overall in 2014.
 
But Lee welcomes the Lady Railsplitters to Cleveland, Tenn. still looking for its first win of the season as the Flames dropped a 2-0 decision to No. 2 Rollins in the season opener and then suffered a 5-2 setback against No. 5 Columbus State. On Friday, the Flames got out of the loss column by playing Newberry to a 1-1 double overtime draw in their home opener.
 
Despite nearly doubling up their opponents in shot attempts (83-42), the Flames have been outscored 8-3 through their first three matches of the 2015 campaign. That is likely a result of bad luck and Lee's incredibly difficult early-season schedule, though, as the Flames tallied 39 goals in 21 matches last season.
 
Summer Lanter has accounted for two of the Flames' three goals while Mia Hollingsworth has scored the other. Hollingsworth leads Lee with 20 shots and an assists. Lanter holds the team-lead with nine shots on goal.
 
Goalkeeper Haley Gribler has played every second of Lee's first three matches, accounting for 12 saves, eight goals allowed and a 2.48 goals against average over that span. In addition to Gribler, the Flames are led defensively by preseason All-GSC defender Laura Thacker.
 
Sunday marks the first meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Lee in 20 seasons as the Lady Railsplitters throttled the Flames, 5-1, in the last meeting in 1995. Lee won the only other meeting, 3-0, the season before.