HARROGATE, Tenn. – After clinching its highest South Atlantic Conference regular-season finish since 2007, the second-seeded Lincoln Memorial women's soccer team aims for its first SAC Championship win since 2013 on Tuesday afternoon when the seventh-seeded Queens Royals invade the LMU Soccer Complex pitch for quarterfinal-round action. 
 
Freshman striker Jessica Cravero scored her team-leading 14th goal in the 27th minute to send the Lady Railsplitters (11-4, 7-3 SAC) past Newberry 1-0 in the regular-season finale on Saturday. With that win and Anderson's loss at Lenoir-Rhyne, Lincoln Memorial earned the No. 2 seed for the SAC tournament just two seasons removed from a program-worst 3-10-2 effort in 2016. The Lady Railsplitters were predicted to finish ninth in the SAC preseason coaches' poll. 
 
Queens (8-6-1, 4-5-1 SAC) captured a 1-0 win at Mars Hill on Saturday to clinch the No. 7 seed and a date with the Lady Railsplitters for the SAC quarterfinals. The two teams meet less than a week ago, when LMU defeated Queens 1-0 on October 24 in Charlotte, N.C. 
 
Admission for Tuesday's match is $5 for adults, youth (12 and under) and seniors (60 and older), $3 for active and retired military, $2 for college students with ID and free for children under five years old. 
 
The Basics 
 
Tuesday, October 30 vs. Queens – 2pm
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Quick Hits 
 
- The Lady Railsplitters are one of the hottest teams in the SAC, as they head into postseason play with wins in six of their last seven matches. Their only loss over that span was a 1-0 overtime loss against Tusculum in which LMU outshot the Pioneers 19-8. 
 
- Lincoln Memorial is back in the SAC tournament for the first time since 2015. The Lady Railsplitters will be seeking their first SAC tournament victory since the 2013 team made a run to the championship game. 
 
- The winner of Tuesday's match will advance to the SAC Championship semifinals to face either Lenoir-Rhyne or Tusculum on Friday in Rock Hill, S.C. 
 
- The Lady Railsplitters have posted three consecutive shutouts and lead the SAC in that department with nine this season. LMU has allowed a league-low 12 goals and 0.80 goals against average, and logged a shutout against the nation's top offensive attack in a 1-0 win over Salem back on September 1. 
 
- Based on combined points, Cravero and Itzel Ballesteros make up the most potent forward duo in the SAC. Cravero is ranked third in the league with 32 points on 14 goals and four assists, while Ballesteros is fourth with 24 points on eight goals and eight assists. Cravero's 32 points are the most by a Lady Railsplitter since Heloisa de Oliveira had a program-record 67 in 2007. 
 
- The Lady Railsplitters are 4-8-1 all-time in SAC tournament play. That includes seven all-time first-round exits. 
 
- Junior keeper Ann-Marie O'Connell is ranked second in the SAC with a 0.86 goals against average and third in save percentage with an .813 clip. 
 
Know the Opponent 
 
- Queens won two of its last three matches – defeating Newberry and Mars Hill – to earn its way into the SAC tournament. Charlotte Ring scored the winner in the eighth minute of Saturday's win at Mars Hill. 
 
- Ring is one of three Royals with double-digit points and leads the team with 17 on seven goals and three assists. Freshman Daniela Diaz has 15 points with six goals and three assists, while Lulu Phan has seven goals. No other Queens player has more than five points. 
 
- Queens is ranked sixth in the league in scoring with 1.80 goals per match and fifth in shots per match with 15.7. Defensively, the Royals are also fifth with a 1.11 goals against average. 
 
- The Royals are hoping for a longer SAC tournament run this year. Last season, then three-seeded Queens was upset in a penalty-kick shootout by sixth-seeded Anderson in the quarterfinal round.  
 
- Queens has been a much better road team than home team this season, compiling a 6-2 record outside of Charlotte compared to a 2-4-1 mark on its home pitch. 
 
- Goalie Rachel Quest has started all 15 matches for the Royals, accounting for the sixth-best goals against average (1.11) and the 11th-best save percentage (.738) in the SAC. 
 
Series History
 
- Maria Hernandez scored in the 88th minute and the LMU defense pitched another shutout to defeat Queens 1-0 less than a week ago in Charlotte. The Lady Railsplitters outshot the Royals 16-10, including a 6-3 edge in shots on goal. 
 
- That win moved the all-time series to 2-2-2. LMU notched its first win in the series since 2013, snapped a two-game losing streak to the Royals and avenged the worst loss of the Sean Fraser-era (a 4-0 setback to Queens last season) in the process. 
 
- LMU hasn't beaten Queens at the LMU Soccer Complex since a 2-0 win in 2013.