SAINT LEO, Fla. – The No. 19 Saint Leo Lions (2-0) started fast and never looked back to hand the Railsplitters (2-1) their first loss of the season, 20-6, on Saturday afternoon at University Turf Stadium.
Coming off of a pair of dominant wins over Hampton and Palm Beach Atlantic to open the 2018 campaign, Lincoln Memorial went into Saturday's matchup seeking the first 3-0 start and first road win over a nationally-ranked opponent in program history.
But Saint Leo thwarted any potential upset bid and overwhelmed the Railsplitters right from the start, kicking off the match on a 6-0 run before eventually carrying a 12-2 lead into the half. The Lions had four separate runs of 3-0 or longer, including one 4-0 flurry that bridged the third and fourth quarters to expand the lead to 17-4.
Lincoln Memorial scored twice in the final eight minutes with the end result already decided to trim the deficit a bit, but Saint Leo added insult to injury with a last-second goal to complete the 20-6 victory.
Kyle Arcuri (2 goals) and
Adam Golia (1 goal, 3 assists) combined for three goals and three assists while the rest of the team contributed just three goals. No other LMU player contributed a single point until
Anthony Teresky netted a goal with eight minutes left in the third.
Chad Walters also scored with 7:41 left in the fourth, while
Khanan Bodley tallied the only other goal with 90 seconds remaining in regulation.
Charlie Kurtenbach led the Saint Leo attack with five goals on a game-high 12 shot attempts. Kyle Pauwels added three goals and six assists, including four on the first five goals of the match for the Lions. Jake Gilmour also had a big match with two goals and four assists.
Shots were nearly identical with Saint Leo accounting for a narrow 45-44 edge. The Lions had only a small advantage in terms of shots on goal at 30-24, but goalie Thomas Tatarian was fantastic for Saint Leo, making 18 saves over 60 minutes of action.
By contrast, freshman
Michael Kessler and junior
Jeffrey Handman had rough afternoons in goal for Lincoln Memorial. Kessler allowed 15 goals while making eight saves in just over 30 minutes of work, while Handman gave up five goals in just under 30 minutes.
The Lions opened the match with six unanswered goals before the Railsplitters finally got on the board with an unassisted goal by Golia with 3:02 left in the first quarter. However, Saint Leo scored three times in quick succession right after that to push the lead to 9-1 early in the second.
A goal by Arcuri that was assisted by Golia with nine minutes left in the second halted that run, but the Railsplitters wouldn't score again until Arcuri's second goal of the match with 10:25 left in the third, which merely cut the deficit to 13-3.
Teresky's goal just two minutes later closed the gap to 13-4, and that's as close as it would get as the Lions promptly reeled off four unanswered goals to effectively end the match.
The Railsplitters turned the ball over 19 times while forcing Saint Leo into just 11. Lincoln Memorial finished with 32 groundballs compared to 37 for the Lions. LMU did have pretty decent day at the face-off x, though, going 14-for-29.
Lincoln Memorial is back in action on February 17 when the Railsplitters make the trip to Cincinnati, Ohio to face Walsh at 2 p.m.
