COLUMBUS, Ga. – The Lady Railsplitters open the 2016 campaign in Columbus, Ga. this weekend against a couple of stout in-region foes, taking the pitch against Bellarmine in the season-opener on Friday at noon before kicking off against West Alabama at 9 a.m. on Sunday.  
 
Schedule/Game Day Links
Tournament Central

Friday, September 2 vs. Bellarmine (Noon)
Sunday, September 4 vs. West Alabama (9am)
 
Notes on the Lady Railsplitters:
Preview with Coach Helio D'Anna on the Papa John's Splitter Sound Bites podcast
 
-The Lady Railsplitters will be looking to rebound from a tumultuous 2015 season in which they finished with a 5-9-3 overall record and stumbled to eighth place in the South Atlantic Conference standings with a 3-6-2 mark. Lincoln Memorial was predicted to finish in eighth place once again in the SAC preseason coaches poll, which was released on Monday.
-Creating more offensive output will be crucial for the Lady Railsplitters to erase the memory of last season. In 2015, LMU averaged 2.09 goals per game, but that includes an 18-goal outburst against the Hiwassee Tigers. In the other 16 matches, the Lady Railsplitters mustered 1.06 goals per, which would have ranked 185th in the nation. The lack of goals wasn't a product of creating chances, though, as the Lady Railsplitters ranked third in the SAC in shots per game with 18.8. It had more to do with a lack of quality chances, as LMU was 12th in the league in shots on goal percentage, which measures the percentage of shot attempts that land on goal.
-The Lady Railsplitters lost 10 players to graduation off of last season's team, but do return three of their top six point scorers in Caroline Souza (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Michelle Hunter (Tecumseh, Ontario) and Hanna Ratliff (Somerset, Ky.). Souza notched three goals and three assists, Hunter produced three goals and a pair of assists, and Ratliff tallied four goals and two assists.
-Lincoln Memorial brought in one of the largest recruiting classes in program history this offseason, welcoming 17 new players for the 2016 campaign. Several are expected to make immediate contributions, including junior midfielder Melissa Carpenter (Jacksonville, Fla.), sophomore midfield/forward combo Palisa Chipendo (Brighton, England), freshman midfielder Jacquelyn Christoph (Eatonville, Wash.) and junior midfielder Ryane McDevitt (Redlands, Calif.).
-The Lady Railsplitters will be looking to improve to 12-1 in season-openers since the start of the 2004 campaign. Lincoln Memorial's only season-opening loss over that span was a 4-1 defeat at the hands of No. 2 nationally-ranked West Florida in 2014.
 
Notes on Bellarmine:
 
-The Knights could very well prove to be the most challenging tests for the Lady Railsplitters this season, as Bellarmine enters the season ranked 10th in the HeroSports national rankings and as the preseason favorites to repeat as Great Lakes Valley Conference champions. Bellarmine went 17-3-2 last season and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the Division II NCAA Tournament.
-Bellarmine has made five NCAA Tournament appearances over the past seven seasons, and the expectation is that the Knights have the talent to make it six of the last eight seasons in 2016, as they return seven starters from the historic 2015 campaign, including five All-GLVC selections. Among that strong faction of returning talent is senior forward Mary Beth Gorham and senior midfielder Lauren Holder. Gorham – the reigning GLVC Player of the Year - was the program's first first-team All-American selection last season after tallying 13 goals (a program record) and seven assists. Holder notched eight assists and three goals last season.
-Even with the Gorham-Holder duo wreaking havoc on opposing defenses, Bellarmine's offense was relatively stagnant last season, ranking 124th in the nation and seventh in the GLVC with a 1.45 average. However, the Knights' defensive unit was among the best in the country, allowing just .529 goals per match, the 11th-best mark in all of Division II. The Knights will try to replicate that effort without All-GLVC and All-Region defender Jordan Major, who was noted as the unquestioned, on-the-field voice for the Knights. Still, Bellarmine's defense retains three major players from last season's squad that posted 15 shutouts and ranked fourth in the nation in shutout percentage.
-Don't expect any defensive drop-off for the Knights this season, as that has become the staple of third-year head coach Chris Tinius' system. In his first season in Louisville, Ky., Tinius engineered a defense that allowed just .876 goals per match.
 
Notes on West Alabama:
 
-In the program's fifth season of existence, West Alabama finished the 2015 campaign with a 10-6-2 overall record and an 8-3-1 mark in Gulf South Conference play. The Tigers advanced to the semifinal round of the GSC Tournament, where they were handed a heartbreaking 1-0 loss by North Alabama. West Alabama was selected fifth in the 2016 GSC preseason coaches poll.
-The Tigers return a pair of preseason All-GSC selections in Kirsten Reilly and Mara DeLuca. Reilly – a 5-7 senior midfielder - was an All-GSC and All-Region selection last season after tallying nine goals and averaging 3.78 shots per game. DeLuca is a senior defender that led a West Alabama defense that allowed just 17 goals last season.
-West Alabama was sturdy on both sides of the pitch last season, compiling a 0.892 goals against average while mustering a 1.72 goals for average. The Tigers registered 13.5 shots per game and managed to produce a 124-94 shots on goal advantage over their opponents. West Alabama was also an assist-happy squad, notching 21 assists on 31 goals. Reilly led the team with six helpers.
-Starting goalkeeper Issy Foster returns for the Tigers after playing every minute in 2015, logging a 0.89 goals against average with 74 saves over 1,700 minutes of work. Foster finished third in the GSC in goals against average while accumulating a .813 save percentage.
 
Series History:
 
-Bellarmine leads the all-time series against Lincoln Memorial 3-1-1, but Friday will mark the first meeting between the two program since 2008, when the Lady Railsplitters and Knights played to a 1-1 draw in Louisville. Prior to that, the two teams hadn't gone head-to-head since the 2003 campaign. The Lady Railsplitters haven't beaten the Knights since notching a 1-0 win in Harrogate in 1997.
-Lincoln Memorial and West Alabama played for the first time ever in the 2015 season-opener, which the Lady Railsplitters won in thrilling fashion, erasing an early 2-0 deficit to capture a 4-3 double-overtime win in Montevallo, Ala. Hunter tallied the first goal of the match for the Lady Railsplitters in the 19th minute to spark the comeback.