DUE WEST, S.C. – Forward Caroline Souza tallied a pair of goals and goalkeeper Brooke Taylor made a career-high nine saves to help the Lady Railsplitters open the Sean Fraser era with a 3-1 win over the Erskine Flying Fleet on Thursday evening in Due West, S.C.
 
"That's a good win to start off the season," said head coach Sean Fraser after picking up the first win of his tenure at Lincoln Memorial. "We were a little patchy today, but an away win is always nice. I thought at times we looked very good and moving forward my job is to encourage more of that play in order to produce better all-around performances."
 
Lincoln Memorial (1-0) took command of the match early and never left up, as Souza scored the first of her two goals in the 10th minute, recovering a deflection off of a defender to make it 1-0 on LMU's second shot attempt of the season. The Lady Railsplitters added another goal just over eight minutes later courtesy of an Erskine (0-1) own goal to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Fleet cut the deficit in half in the 21st minute on a lofted shot from the right wing by Katie Cauble, but that was the only blemish on Taylor's otherwise stellar ledger. The junior keeper made a career-best nine stops in the contest, including five in the final eight minutes to preserve the victory.
 
Souza provided the Lady Railsplitters with some breathing room in the 63rd minute, converting a breakaway set up by defender Courtney Boyd, who picked up the first point of her career in the Blue and Gray on the counter attack.  
 
Hanna Ratliff and Patricia Roach combined for three shots on goal over the next passage of play, but the Lady Railsplitters were unable to add to their lead.
 
Erskine finished with a 13-12 edge in shots and a 10-8 cushion in shots on goal, but those numbers were a bit skewed by the Fleet's closing stretch. Prior to the final eight minutes, when Erskine produced five shots on goal, Lincoln Memorial had accumulated a 12-8 advantage in that department and allowed just one second-half shot attempt.
 
"I thought Caroline led the line well, Melissa Carpenter was full of some excellent running and Brooke's distribution was at time first class," said Fraser. "We will recover and go again Sunday."
 
Quick Hits
 
- The Lady Railsplitters won just their second season opener since the start of the 2014 campaign. Lincoln Memorial suffered losses to Bellarmine in 2016 and West Florida in 2014.
 
- Souza is already halfway to her goal output from the entire 2016 campaign, when she earned All-SAC honorable mention accolades after tallying four goals and two assists.
 
- Along with Souza's team-leading four shot attempts, Boyd and Ratliff recorded two shots apiece.
 
- Erskine finished with a 5-4 edge in corner kick attempts.
 
- Thursday marked the first-ever meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Erskine.
 
Up Next
 
The Lady Railsplitters begin a three-match homestand on Sunday, September 3 when they host Tennessee Wesleyan at the LMU Soccer Complex at 1 p.m.