ROCK HILL, S.C. – The second-seeded Lady Railsplitters scored a pair of goals over a six-minute span in the second half to book a trip to the South Atlantic Conference Championship title match with a 2-0 win over the three-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne Bears on Friday afternoon at Manchester Meadows.
On a rain-drenched pitch, Lincoln Memorial (13-4) took advantage of a Lenoir-Rhyne (11-6-1)
defensive miscue to score the game-winning goal in the 71st minute and added to its lead just minutes later to advance to the SAC tournament championship match for the third time in program history and first time since 2013.
The Lady Railsplitters, who have now won eight of their last nine matches, including a streak of five straight, will face top-seeded Carson-Newman for the SAC tournament title on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Lenoir-Rhyne controlled the flow in the first half, but the staunch Lady Railsplitter defense that leads the conference in goals against average and goals allowed kept the match scoreless at the break despite L-R accumulating a 9-4 edge in shot attempts.
Rain pelted the Manchester Meadows pitch throughout the match, and reached its peak volume at the midway point of the second half.
The driving rain and accumulating water didn't seem to have an effect on the players until it opened the door for the Lady Railsplitters in the 71st minute, when
Caroline Souza played the ball back towards the goal off an
Itzel Ballesteros' corner kick. L-R keeper Loren Sterling went for the ball and had it in her grips, but quickly lost control. The ball promptly fell at the feet of
Courtney Boyd, who blasted it into the open next for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
The goal was the first of the season for Boyd and marked just the third goal of her career.
Just five minutes and 19 seconds later, Ballesteros broke free on a breakaway down the middle of the field and beat Sterling on a one-on-one to double the Lady Railsplitters' lead. That was the 10th goal of the season for the first-team All-SAC selection and pushed her SAC tournament point total to five.
A two-goal lead was more than enough for the LMU defense, which posted its 10th shutout of the season to secure the victory. Goalie
Ann-Marie O'Connell made six shots to earn her 13th win.
Lenoir-Rhyne outshot the Lady Railsplitters 19-12, but shots on goal were even at 6-6. The Bears also finished with a 7-6 edge in corner kicks
Quick Hits
-
Rachel Taylor and
Jessica Cravero led LMU with three shots apiece. Lenoir-Rhyne's Abbie Brown led all players with five shots.
- The Lady Railsplitters are set to make their third trip to the SAC tournament championship game. LMU lost 2-1 to Wingate in 2013 and advanced past Catawba in a penalty-kick shootout in 2007.
- With their 13th win of the season, Lincoln Memorial has now nearly matched its combined total from the past three season (15).
Up Next
The top two seeds in the SAC will tangle for the conference tournament championship on Sunday at 1 p.m. when Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman face off at Manchester Meadows. The Lady Railsplitters suffered a 5-2 loss to Eagles during the regular season on September 19. Carson-Newman defeated Catawba on Friday to earn its fourth straight trip to the SAC title match.
