HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Searching for their first win since September 16, the Lady Railsplitters (2-2-3) began a five-match homestand on Wednesday when they welcome the Hiwassee Tigers to the LMU Soccer Complex for a nonconference tussle, scheduled for a 2 p.m. kickoff in Harrogate.
 
Lincoln Memorial fell to 0-1-2 in its last three matches by dropping a 3-1 decision at Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday afternoon. The Bears jumped on the Lady Railsplitters early, scoring on a penalty kick in the second minute and adding another goal in the fifth minute to bury Coach D'Anna's squad in a 2-0 hole. Josefin Hedstrom (Burtrask, Sweden) gave the Lady Railsplitters some life just minutes later when she rebounded a deflection off of the crossbar and scored to trim L-R's lead to 2-1.
 
The Lady Railsplitters would muster just two shots on goal for the remainder of the match, however, while Lenoir-Rhyne tacked on an insurance goal in the 65th minute to send LMU to 1-5 all-time in Hickory.
 
Junior goalkeeper Kathryn Lundy (Pinckney, Mich.) was outstanding once against for the Lady Railsplitters, matching her career-high with nine saves and surpassing seven saves in her third straight match. She is the first LMU keeper to accomplish that feat since Stephanie Kwoka made seven or more saves in four of the first five matches of the 2005 campaign. Lundy is currently carrying an .824 save percentage in SAC matches, which is the third-best mark in the league.
 
Hiwassee has given up goals in bunches early in its first season of collegiate competition, which should provide the Lady Railsplitters with an opportunity to gets their offense going and build some confidence heading into Saturday's match against SAC-leading Wingate. Lincoln Memorial is currently ranked eighth in the SAC and 147th in the country by scoring 1.29 goals per match. That is currently the lowest goals per game total among the Lady Railsplitters' 21 seasons on record.  
 
Shots on goal volume has played a large part in the Lady Railsplitters' offense struggles, as they are ranked 10th in the SAC by landing just 43.1 percent of their shots on goal. In SAC play alone, Lincoln Memorial has accounted for 65 shot attempts, ranking fifth in the league in that department. But only 24 of those tries have found their target (.369).
 
Olivia Thompson (Melbourne, Fla.), Hedstrom and Kadie Soall (Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada) have been exceptions to that. Thompson has 13 shots with 11 shots on goal (.846), Hedstrom has produced six shots on goal on only nine attempts (.667), and Soall has eight shots and five shots on frame (.625). Thompson and Soall are tied with Claire Leasure (Franklin, Tenn.) for the team lead in goals scored with two apiece.
 
Live stats and a video broadcast of Wednesday's match, set for a 2 p.m. kickoff, will be available via www.LMURailsplitters.com. Updates will also be available at the official LMU Athletics Twitter page (@LMURailsplitter), where fans can join the conversation using the hashtag Tweet #LMUWSOC .
 
Know the Opponent
 
Hiwassee - 2 p.m. - Live Stats | Video  
 
In the midst of its inaugural season, Hiwassee, an NAIA program from Madisonville, Tenn., has struggled mightily. The Tigers dropped their first four matches of the season by a combined margin of 28-0, which includes a 10-0 loss at Warren Wilson in the program's first-ever women's soccer match.
 
Most recently, Hiwassee suffered a 9-0 setback at the University of the Cumberlands, as the Patriots tallied five goals in the first 16 minutes of action and dominated possession by amassing a 36-2 advantage in shot attempts. Freshman midfielder Shana Debty accounted for the only two shots for Hiwassee, and she landed both of those attempts on goal.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Ballie McMahan made 12 saves in that match. She began her collegiate career by making 18 stops in the season-opening loss at Warren Wilson.
 
The Tigers also played nearby Union College on September 2, a match they lost 7-0 in Barbourville, Ky. Much like the loss to Cumberlands, Hiwassee relinquished five goals in the first 23 minutes of play and was outshot 32-0. 25 of Union's 32 shot attempts landed on goal, as McMahan finished with 18 saves again.
 
Wednesday's match will, of course, be the first all-time meeting between the Lady Railsplitters and Tigers.