HARROGATE, Tenn. — Jack Wlodyka crouched down in disbelief.
 
The Wingate Bulldog dropped his head into his palms as his shot trickled into the back of his own net, resulting into the second Lincoln Memorial University goal and pushing the Railsplitters' lead to two in the 51st minute.
 
It was just another play that suggested LMU was going to run away with its first victory over the Bulldogs since 2011.
 
The assumption was correct as the Railsplitters tallied their third goal in the 69th minute before eventually securing the South Atlantic Conference, 3-0, win over Wingate at the LMU Soccer Complex Saturday afternoon.
 
"We had about five or six chances so we didn't need that, but that can be demoralizing a little bit — we would have felt, if we got scored on like that," said LMU head coach Helio D'Anna of Wingate scoring an own goal. "It takes a little life out of you to find and get yourself back on your feet, but then we scored a third one and that's the big one."
 
This was a match that one Railsplitter had circled on his schedule, and that particular player — Felipe de Sousa — put the finishing touches on a special win.
 
In the 69th minute, the junior took a rebound from a goalkeeper deflection, corralling it before sticking it into the back of the net for the third and final score of the afternoon.
 
"Excellent, excellent," said D'Anna of de Sousa. "One of the best I've seen from him in three years.
 
"Sometimes mature, veteran guys they come to your office, look at the schedule and map out, 'This is what we are going to do here and there.' The whole year, all he talked about was this game."
 
The Railsplitters (5-2-2, 3-1-1 SAC) followed the tough, physical play from their junior captain from the get-go.
 
It was Danilo Seglio, who sent across his first assist of the year in beautiful fashion in the 3rd minute, connecting with Alan Brandao as he extended and headed in his first goal of the year to give the Railsplitters an early lead.

"That was very important," said de Sousa of the first score. "In past games, we were playing very well and didn't score the goals. The first goal let's us be more confident and it makes a whole lot of difference."
 
LMU cruised the rest of way, leading Wingate (5-3-1, 3-2) in shots, where the Railsplitters held a 14-4 advantage in the first half and 19-12 for the conference matchup.
 
Not only was it LMU's first win since 2011, but the Railsplitters' first shutout of the Bulldogs since a scoreless tie in 2015 and in their 2-0 win on Oct. 24, 2011 at Wingate.
 
To top those stats, it is also the most goals LMU has ever scored in the Wingate series that dates back to 2007.
 
"Truth being said, it's been great games every time," D'Anna said. "Nothing has changed. It was another great game. Sometimes you just look at the losses, but let's look at some of these losses — overtime losses, 2-1, 1-0 — so it's always been great games.
 
"Of course, we are about winning and sometimes you just have to get that one out of the system to move on. Truth being said, it's no different than every time we play them. We play well with them. They are a great team; we are a great team. That's how it is."