HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Catawba Indians (1-3, 1-1 SAC) silenced the Railsplitters (3-2, 0-2 SAC) over the final 38 minutes of regulation to capture a 12-3 win in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action on Saturday in Harrogate, Tenn.
 
Lincoln Memorial fell behind 4-0 right out of the gate, but whittled the deficit back to 5-3 by the midway point of the second quarter. However, the Indians would close the match on a 7-0 run to pick up their first win of the season and send the Railsplitters to 0-2 in SAC play.
 
A number of factors contributed to the Railsplitters' offensive drought, but the disparity at the face-off x was arguably the most significant, as Catawba won 14 of the 16 face-offs. Lincoln Memorial also went 0-for-6 in man-up opportunities and trailed 41-30 in total shot attempts.
 
Dylan Neisler (Detroit, Mich.), Jared Courchene (Sagkeeng, Manitoba) and Nick Borriello (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) accounted for the three LMU goals. Neisler led the way for the Railsplitters with seven shots and four shots on goal, while Billy Kopsky (Smithtown, N.Y.) finished with an assist and five shots. Kyle Arcuri (Patchogue, N.Y.) and Adam Golia (Victoria, British Columbia) added four shots apiece.
 
Connor Kennedy paced Catawba with four goals, and he scored two of the Indians four goals in a 4-0 starting run that consumed the first 12 minutes of the opening quarter. Neisler brought that run to an end and put the Railsplitters on the board with a goal at the 1:21 mark of the first quarter, but Catawba scored in the closing seconds to carry a 5-1 cushion into the second quarter.
 
Courchene and Borriello scored less than two minutes apart early in the second quarter to trim Catawba's lead to 5-3 at the 8:39 mark, but the Indians tallied three times in the final two and a half minutes of the first half to carry an 8-3 lead into the break.
 
Lincoln Memorial allowed just four second-half goals but was held scoreless over that same span. The Railsplitters were limited to a mere four shot attempts in the fourth quarter without a shot for the final seven minutes.
 
Junior goalkeeper Joe Medel (Virginia Beach, Va.) recorded double-digit saves for the fourth time in five appearances this season, logging 12 stops over 60 minutes of work. His counterpart, Catawba's Ryan Applegate, made 11 saves over that same span.
 
Along with Kennedy's four-goal effort, Reid Lichtenberger, Isaiah Welch and Liam Lynch scored two goals apiece for the Indians, while Josh Reedy produced three assists.
 
The loss drops Lincoln Memorial to 0-10 all-time in South Atlantic Conference play while snapping a five-game home winning streak that dated back to the end of the 2015 campaign.
 
Next up, the Railsplitters begin a four-game road trip by paying a visit to the Wingate Bulldogs on Saturday, March 12. That match is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m. in Wingate, N.C.