HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Railsplitters will take a tour of the Sunshine State this week when they head south to face Palm Beach Atlantic on Thursday and No. 19 Saint Leo on Saturday in a pair of NCAA Division II men's lacrosse showdowns.
 
Powered by a number of impressive individual performances, Lincoln Memorial (1-0) opened the season with a 16-9 win at Hampton on Saturday. Palm Beach Atlantic is beginning its first season of men's lacrosse and Thursday's match against the Railsplitters will be the program's debut. Saint Leo is a much more established club that opened the season ranked 19th in the country and proved worthy of that ranking with an 18-10 shellacking of Alabama-Huntsville on February 3.  
 
Schedule / Game Day Links:
 
Thursday, February 8 at Palm Beach Atlantic (7pm) – Live Stats / Video
 
Saturday, February 10 at No. 19 Saint Leo (1pm) – Live Stats / Video
 
Quick Hits:
 
- Lincoln Memorial used a 7-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters to beat Hampton 16-9 in the 2018 opener. Adam Golia and Kyle Arcuri led the way with 16 combined points. Golia broke the program's single-match points record with five goals and four assists, while Arcuri added four goals and three assists. Khanan Bodley chipped in two goals in the victory.
 
- Golia was tabbed as the AstroTurf SAC Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week for his record-breaking performance against Hampton. With just one game down in his senior season, Golia is the program's all-time leader in points, points per game, goals, goals per game and assists.
 
- After leading the South Atlantic Conference in caused turnovers last season, the Railsplitters proved that was no fluke against Hampton, racking up 19 caused turnovers in the victory. Will Britt led that effort with six while three other players had multiple caused turnovers.
 
- The Railsplitters reset the program record for shot attempts by firing off 56 shots against Hampton. It was the first 50-shot effort in program history.
 
- Redshirt-junior Jeffrey Handman and freshman Michael Kessler split goalkeeping duties against Hampton. Handman made the start and picked up his first career win after allowing four goals while making five saves in the first half. Kessler was almost as effective, making five saves with five goals allowed in the second.
 
- The Railsplitters are looking to start 2-0 for the second time in program history and the first time since the 2016 campaign. Lincoln Memorial has never started 3-0 and is just 1-5 against ranked opponents in program history. The Railsplitters did, however, nab the first win over a ranked opponent in program history last season with a win over No. 16 Queens.
 
Notes on Palm Beach Atlantic:
 
- Stephen Tempone was named as the first men's lacrosse coach in school history on August 1, 2016. He previously served as the offensive coordinator at New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), who went to the NCAA Tournament in Tempone's final season there.
 
- As expected, Palm Beach Atlantic heads into its debut season with a young roster comprised of 20 freshmen. The roster also features Limestone (back-to-back Division II national champions) transfer Ted Hollander and Maryland (2017 Division I national champions) transfer Colin Hayek. 
 
- The Sailfish will play three SAC foes this season, following up Thursday's match against Lincoln Memorial with a trip to Coker on March 3 and a road match at Newberry on March 5.
 
- Palm Beach Atlantic was picked seventh in the Sunshine State Conference preseason coaches poll. The SSC is a loaded conference that features No. 6 Tampa, No. 18 Florida Tech, No. 19 Saint Leo and a solid Florida Southern club.
 
Notes on Saint Leo:
 
- The Lions opened their win over Alabama-Huntsville with five unanswered goals and never let off the gas in an 18-10 victory last Saturday in Huntsville, Ala. The match was actually much more lopsided than the final score indicates, as Saint Leo led 17-7 before the Chargers closed on a 3-1 run to trim the final margin.
 
- Saint Leo produced a 46-34 advantage in shot attempts, including a commanding 34-19 edge in shots on goal in that win in Huntsville. The Lions also went 18-for-29 on face-offs.
 
- Jake Gilmour paced Saint Leo with three goals and four assists to earn SSC Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week accolades while Anthony Visintin added three goals and two assists. Charlie Kurtenbach led the team with four goals, and Kyle Pauwels and Jason D'Aoust had two goals apiece.
 
- Thomas Tatarian was stellar in goal for the Lions, racking up nine saves while allowing just 10 goals over the entire 60-minute match.
 
- Saint Leo went 9-5 last season and led the nation in shooting percentage with a 0.378 mark, which would have also qualified as the highest mark in the NCAA Division I. Pauwels led the nation individually with a .690 shooting percentage and finished second nationally in goals per game with 3.50. Visintin was 12th in the nation with a .479 shooting percentage.  
 
- Saint Leo has been tough to beat at home in recent seasons, compiling a 14-4 home record since the start of the 2016 campaign.
 
Series History
 
- The Railsplitters have never faced either Palm Beach Atlantic or Saint Leo. Lincoln Memorial is 0-2 against Sunshine State Conference foes, suffering a 20-6 season-opening loss at Florida Tech in 2017 as well as a 9-7 home loss to Florida Southern.