HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Tusculum Pioneers scored a goal in each half to power a 2-0 win over the Lady Railsplitters on Wednesday afternoon at the LMU Soccer Complex.
The loss is Lincoln Memorial's (1-5, 1-2 SAC) second at home this season and first since a 4-0 setback to Lee in LMU Soccer Complex opener on September 11, as the Pioneers (4-2-2, 2-0-1 SAC) used goals from Carlie Thornber and Ellie Tomassoni to pick up their second SAC victory of the 2016 campaign. The loss drops the Lady Railsplitters to 10-14-3 in the all-time series against Tusculum.
The Pioneers outshot the Lady Railsplitters 25-14 with a 13-5 edge in shots on goal, but Lincoln Memorial spent a significant amount of time in Tusculum's zone. That didn't result in too many quality looks, though, as the Pioneers' back line turned away nearly every cross into the box before it could reach the head or feet of an LMU attacker.
Both teams started the first half with an up-tempo pace between the attacking and defending thirds. The Pioneers controlled possession for the majority of that stanza, outshooting the Lady Railsplitters 16-3, but LMU sophomore goalkeeper
Brooke Taylor (White Pine, Tenn.) made seven first-half saves to keep the Tusculum attack at bay.
Taylor couldn't completely quell the Pioneers' relentless attack, though, as Tusculum took the lead in the 36th minute. That strike came off of a corner kick from the left side by Olivia Kilgore, as she struck a bending ball into the box to connect with Thornber, who headed it just past the reach of Taylor at the near post to put the Pioneers ahead 1-0.
The Lady Railsplitters produced one of their best scoring chances near the end of the half, as sophomore midfielder
Isa Jara (Miami, Fla.) ripped a shot in on goal with three and a half minutes left, but Tusculum keeper Miriah Martin made the save.
To open the second half, Lincoln Memorial began to push forward in hopes of getting the equalizer. Tusculum sat back in formation, allowing the Lady Railsplitters to produce an 11-9 shot advantage in the second half, with five of those attempts coming in the first 12 minutes of the frame.
The Lady Railsplitters couldn't convert any of those chances into goals, however, as multiple shots from junior midfielder
Melissa Carpenter (Jacksonville, Fla.) and freshman defender
Jacquelyn Christoph (Eatonville, Wash.) came up empty. In addition to those opportunities,
Caroline Souza (Sao Paulo, Brazil) hit the crossbar off of a free kick in the 87th minute.
Tusculum, meanwhile, was able to tack on an insurance goal in the 68th minute, as Taylor was unable to completely clear the ball out of the box and Tomassoni snuck a quick-hitter past the outstretched foot of
Caroline Temple (Jacksonville, Fla.). That goal proved to break the Lady Railsplitters' second-half momentum, as Tusculum fell back into formation to play out the 2-0 victory.
Christoph led the Lady Railsplitters with five shots and two shots on goal, while Carpenter, Jara and
Gabby Garcia (Aurora, Colo.) had two shots apiece.
Martin, who played all 90 minutes for the Pioneers, made four saves, while Taylor and senior
Kathryn Lundy (Pinckney, Mich.), who played the final 21 minutes, combined for 11 saves in the game.
South Atlantic Conference foe Lenoir-Rhyne is up next for the Lady Railsplitters, as the Bears come to Harrogate and the LMU Soccer Complex on Saturday, September 24th for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Live stats and video links will be available on Twitter (@LMURailsplitter) and online at www.LMURailsplitters.com.
Quick Hits
-Taylor finished with a career-high nine saves in the match, besting her previous career-high of five set against West Alabama earlier this season.
-The loss was LMU's first to Tusculum since 2013. The two teams tied in last season's meeting, while the Lady Railsplitters won 2-1 in 2014 in the last match at the LMU Soccer Complex.
-The Lady Railsplitters, who are now averaging just 0.50 goals per match, were shutout for the third time in six tries this season.
