MARS HILL, N.C. -- The Railsplitters tried to rally late, but their furious comeback bid fell a bit short in a 3-2 loss to the Mars Hill Lions in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer action on Wednesday night.
 
Lincoln Memorial (8-5, 4-4 SAC) outshot Mars Hill (6-8, 4-5 SAC) 26-11 with a 12-6 edge in shots on goal and mustered an 18-5 advantage in shot attempts in the second half, but a three-goal deficit proved too much to overcome. The loss snapped the Railsplitters' three-game winning streak and extended the Lions' winning streak in the series to eight dating back to the 2010 season.
 
Stian Sanner scored twice for the Lions, tallying in the sixth and 55th minutes, while Ian Wu scored between those two goals with a 51st-minute marker, all of which put the Lions ahead 3-0 with just over 35 minutes remaining in regulation.
 
The Railsplitters continued to trail 3-0 as time winded down in regulation, but Victor Peres (Brasilia, Brazil) sparked Lincoln Memorial to life in the 78th minute with an unassisted goal, his fifth of the season.
 
Less than four minutes later, George Burne (Carlisle, England) recovered a deflected ball and tallied his sixth goal of the season to pull the Railsplitters within one.
 
Despite shots on goal by Danilo da Silva (Campinas, Brazil) and Ronaldo de Jesus (Campinas, Brazil), as well as a shot by Peres that deflected off of the crossbar, in the final six minutes of regulation, the Railsplitters were unable to equalize the match.
 
The Railsplitters fired off a season-high 26 shots and fell one shy of matching a season-high mark with 12 shots on goal, but Mars Hill keeper Kristopher Wennin stood up under that immense pressure by making 10 saves. He notched his fifth win of the season with the standout performance.
 
Silva paced the Railsplitters with eight shots, while Peres had five. LMU goalkeeper August Ahlin (Stockholm, Sweden) fell to 8-5 on the season after making three saves and allowing a season-high three goals.
 
Wednesday's decision mirrored last season's 1-0 loss to Mars Hill in many ways, as the Railsplitters outshot the Lions 26-8 in that contest and accounted for a 6-3 edge in shots on goal.
 
The Railsplitters, who were ranked eighth in the initial NCAA Division II Southeast Region rankings on Wednesday, will be back in action on Saturday, October 22, when they welcome the Anderson Trojans to the LMU Soccer Complex for the regular-season home finale. That match gets underway at 3:30 p.m.