HARROGATE, Tenn. – Palisa Chipendo scored her second goal of the match in the 101st minute to send the Lady Railsplitters (7-7, 2-6 SAC) to a 3-2 double-overtime win over the Mars Hill Lions (2-10-1, 1-7 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference women's soccer action on Wednesday at the LMU Soccer Complex.
 
In its first overtime match of the season, Lincoln Memorial picked up its first overtime win since a double-overtime victory over Coker on October 15, 2016. It was just the third overtime triumph for the program since the start of the 2015 campaign.
 
Chipendo's winner, which was assisted by Lea Scharf, capped a wild back-and-forth contest. The Lady Railsplitters built a 2-0 lead and carried that two-goal edge late into the second half, but Mars Hill scored twice in quick succession to swing the momentum and force overtime. After seeing the Lions rally all the way back, Chipendo and Lincoln Memorial answered to leave the pitch with the resounding and hard-fought win.
 
Chipendo sparked the Lady Railsplitters early, as she finished off a feed into the box from Melissa Carpenter in the 10th minute to tally her first goal of the match and give Lincoln Memorial a 1-0 lead, which would hold through the remainder of the half.
 
The Lady Railsplitters added an insurance goal less than three minutes into the second half, though, as Mariana Diaz headed home her team-leading fourth goal of the season off a cross from Carpenter to make it a 2-0 lead.
 
Lincoln Memorial carried that 2-0 lead into the final 10 minutes of regulation but started to run out of gas. With the injuries mounting, the Lady Railsplitters didn't make their first substitution of the match until the 82nd minute, and Mars Hill took advantage of that fatigue.
 
Leah Hairfield cut the Lions' deficit in half in the 82nd minute with a shot that deflected off a defender and into the net. Less than two minutes later, Aleonya Hunter lofted a shot over the head of LMU netminder Brooke Taylor to tie the score at 2-2.  
 
The Lady Railsplitters mounted a solid scoring chance in the final minutes, but Courtney Boyd's shot attempt was saved to send the match to overtime.
 
The two teams combined for seven shots in the first overtime with Mars Hill accounting for the lone shot on goal. Chipendo's winner was the one and only shot of the second overtime period.
 
Taylor made six saves to pick up her seventh win of the season in goal for the Lady Railsplitters, while Kaitlyn Danglemaier recorded five saves in the loss.
 
Quick Hits
 
- LMU's three goals were the team's most in a SAC match since a 4-1 win at Coker in October 2015.
 
- Chipendo notched her first multi-goal effort at Lincoln Memorial. Carpenter also accounted for the first multi-assist performance of her career in the Blue and Gray.
 
- The Lady Railsplitters were outshot 27-19. Chipendo led all players with eight shots and four shots on goal, while Boyd recorded three shots with one landing on target. Hunter and Hairfield paced Mars Hill with four shots apiece.
 
- The win moved Lincoln Memorial to 14-4 all-time against Mars Hill and also snapped a two-game losing streak in the series. It was the second consecutive double-overtime match between the two teams.
 
Up Next
 
The Lady Railsplitters travel to Anderson on Saturday for the penultimate SAC match of the season. First touch is set for 1 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at www.lmurailsplitters.com.