HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's lacrosse team will celebrate the first collection of freshmen in program history when the Railsplitters host Newberry for Senior Day at the LMU Lacrosse Complex on Saturday.
The Railsplitters (11-3, 5-2 SAC) pulled off an improbable win on Wednesday, rallying from a four-goal deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to defeat Tusculum 14-12 in Harrogate. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak, pushed Lincoln Memorial to 5-0 at home and kept the team solidly in third place in the South Atlantic Conference standings.
Newberry (4-9, 0-6 SAC) suffered an embarrassing 13-1 defeat at Queens on Wednesday to drop its sixth straight match and remain winless in SAC play. The Wolves are in their first season of men's lacrosse.
Schedule / Game Day Links:
Saturday, April 14 vs. Newberry (3pm) –
Live Stats
Quick Hits:
- The Railsplitters trailed at the end of every quarter and went into the fourth frame facing a 12-8 deficit on Wednesday. However, Lincoln Memorial closed on a 6-0 run to pick up its first-ever home win against the Pioneers.
Robert Tucker scored three times during that 6-0 run, while
Adam Golia distributed three assists over that span.
Dylan Neisler gave LMU the lead for good with the go-ahead goal at the 1:51 mark of the fourth.
- Saturday will serve as the Railsplitters' final regular-season match at the LMU Lacrosse Complex as the regular-season finale against Davis & Elkins will be hosted in Knoxville, Tenn. at Knoxville Catholic High School to raise money for the Knights of Columbus.
- In conjunction with that, Lincoln Memorial will honor its massive 18-man senior class that formed the foundation of the LMU men's lacrosse program as the first freshman recruiting class in the lead up to the inaugural 2015 campaign. That group includes three of the four all-time leaders in points (Golia, Neisler and
Billy Kopsky), the two leaders in ground balls (
Josh Hernandez and
Kyle Fleck) and five of the top six in caused turnovers (Hernandez, Fleck,
Ryan Benck,
Ryan Ferguson and
Colin Jackson).
- Golia, who leads the SAC in points (80) and assists (37) while ranking second in goals (43), needs one more point to become the first player in program history to reach the 200-point threshold. He has produced at least two points in every match this season while surpassing the five-point mark eight times.
- The Railsplitters are ranked third in the nation in ground balls per game with 39.07.
Hunter Clark leads Lincoln Memorial with 66 total and 6.0 per game, which ranks 20th in the country. He needs 17 more to overtake the program record set by Hernandez in 2015.
- Lincoln Memorial is among the best offenses in the country, ranking fifth nationally in goals per game with 15.36. On top of that, the Railsplitters are 12th in man-up offense by scoring on 42.1 percent of those opportunities.
Chris Tucker has a team-leading and No. 3 nationally ranked seven man-up goals.
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Kevin Cook and
Hunter Clark have produced the two highest face-off winning percentages in program history this season. Cook is first with a 60.6 percent clip but he has taken part in just 33 face-offs. Clark has taken the lion's share of the face-offs, going 106-for-197 for a 53.8 percent mark.
Know the Opponent:
- Newberry has been outscored 30-7 in its last two losses, falling 17-6 to Wingate and 13-1 at Queens. Prior to that, the Wolves fell just shy of the program's first-ever SAC win in a 12-11 double-overtime loss to Tusculum.
- Belton Bryan tallied Newberry's lone goal of the match against Queens with 3:18 left in the third quarter. The Royals outshot the Wolves 44-22.
- The fledgling Newberry program has struggled offensively, ranking eighth in the league with 8.08 goals per game. The Wolves have also allowed 11.21 goals per game and been outscored 147-105.
- Newberry's four wins came against Emmanuel (15-7), Alderson Broaddus (11-7), Chowan (14-10) and Palm Beach Atlantic (9-4). Those four teams have a combined 12-35 record.
- Dylan Mansur has guided the Newberry offense with 45 points on 21 goals and 24 assists. Jeremy Ross has contributed 22 goals and nine assists while Stone Boone has produced 20 goals and six assists. Matt Cromie (15) and Bryan (13) also have double-digit goals.
- Ross leads the Wolves in SAC play with nine goals and two assists.
- Sophomore Erick Szurley has started 12 of the team's 13 matches in goal, compiling an 11.15 goals against average and a 49.6 save percentage over that span. He is ranked third in the conference with 141 total saves.
- Newberry is 1-5 on the road compared to 3-4 at home. The Wolves have lost three consecutive road matches since picking up the first win in program history at Emmanuel on February 17.
