HARROGATE, Tenn. – Itzel Ballesteros scored in the 106th minute to propel the Lady Railsplitters to their best start since 2014 and first win over the Wingate Bulldogs since 2007 in a 1-0 double-overtime thriller on Saturday afternoon at the LMU Soccer Complex.
The heart-racing victory helped Lincoln Memorial (7-3, 3-2 SAC) snap a decade-long, 12-match losing streak against the Bulldogs (5-4-1, 2-3 SAC) that started in November 2008. The Lady Railsplitters earned only their fourth win all-time in the series and first since October 2007.
It also marks the first time that LMU has won seven of its first 10 matches of the season since the 2014 squad opened 9-2-1.
"I thought we played really well," said LMU second-year head coach
Sean Fraser. "We missed a few chances. They missed a chance or two as well, but it was a brilliant advert for Division II soccer. Two very, very good teams.
"I'm pleased with the fight from us. We fought all the way through, we showed our fitness and at the end of the game we showed our quality. We played some brilliant football and managed the game really, really well so I'm really happy."
As the final score indicated and the nearly two hours it took to decide the final outcome, Saturday's match was about as evenly-played as it gets.
The Lady Railsplitters finished with a 21-15 edge in shots while both teams finished with six shots on goal and eight fouls apiece. Wingate produced a slim 8-7 advantage in corner kicks.
The Bulldogs dominated the first 45 minutes of play, outshooting the Lady Railsplitters 10-4 while racking up five corners.
But some personnel changes turned the tide in Lincoln Memorial's favor from the start of the second half on, as the Lady outshot Wingate 17-5 the rest of the way, including a commanding 13-2 margin in the second half.
First, Fraser opted to rotate his three primary strikers, Ballesteros,
Jessica Cravero and
Caroline Souza, throughout the match and that ultimately led to a fresher rotation that sparked a steady stream of scoring chances.
"We rotated the front three because it was the perfect game to do that and it kept all three of them dangerous," Fraser said. "Souza and Cravero were outstanding and Itzel, for me, was the best player on the field today."
Fraser also made a shift in the midfield that preferred possession over attacking, bringing freshman
Bella Fiorentino and junior
Mikayla Vang onto the pitch down the closing stretch.
After a scoreless 90 minutes of regulation and another scoreless 10-minute overtime period, those two strategic decisions paid off in the 106th minute when the Lady Railsplitters' relentless attack finally broke through on Ballesteros' strike from the top of the box.
The junior tallied her seventh goal of the season off a feed from Vang, who notched her first point as a Lady Railsplitter.
Following a shaky start, the LMU defense settled in and collected its sixth shutout of the season. Junior keeper
Ann-Marie O'Connell was the hero of that effort, making six saves, including five in the first half alone. Starters
Alyssa Berry,
Daisy Drake,
Fabienne Loetscher and
Lauren Wood played all 106 minutes in front of O'Connell as well.
Just two seasons removed from stumbling to a 3-10-2 record, Saturday's win feels like a turning point for the Lady Railsplitters, who have already matched their win total from the 2017 campaign with five matches left in the regular season.
"It's one of those where it gets you over the hump a little bit," Fraser said. "They get their reward for the hard work they have been putting in.
"The big thing for us is that they continue to remain hungry and remain humble as well. I said to them, 'let that feed you, but it doesn't fill you up. You're still hungry.'"
The Lady Railsplitters will get another opportunity to earn a statement win on Saturday, October 13 when they pay the SAC-leading Lenoir-Rhyne Bears a visit for a 5 p.m. start.
