KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Railsplitters close out the regular season on Saturday with a nonconference matchup against Davis & Elkins at Knoxville Catholic High School. The match is being hosted in Knoxville as a joint fundraiser for the Knight of Columbus.
Lincoln Memorial (12-3) completed the South Atlantic Conference schedule last Saturday with a 14-2 win over Newberry at the LMU Lacrosse Complex. With their second straight victory, the Railsplitters clinched a home match for the opening round of the SAC tournament for the first time in program history.
The third-year Davis & Elkins (0-11) lacrosse program enters the 2018 finale still seeking its first win of the season. The Senators were beaten by Alderson Broaddus 11-7 in their last outing on Wednesday to finish 0-7 in G-MAC play.
Saturday will serve as the first-ever meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Davis & Elkins.
Schedule / Game Day Links:
Saturday, April 21 vs. Davis & Elkins (12:30 p.m., Knoxville Catholic)
Quick Hits:
- The Railsplitters led just 2-1 at the end of the first quarter but used a dominant 10-0 run that carried deep into the third quarter to cruise past the Newberry Wolves last Saturday. The two goals allowed matched the lowest mark in program history as Lincoln Memorial finished 6-2 in SAC play to earn at worst the No. 4 seed for next week's conference tournament.
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Adam Golia had a hand in 10 of the Railsplitters' 14 goals, scoring three while assisting on seven others. Golia now leads the SAC with 90 points and assists with 44 while his 46 goals are the second-most in the league. The senior needs just 10 more points to record the 18th 100-point season in the history of NCAA Division II men's lacrosse and the first since Merrimack's Gregory Rogowski did it in 2006.
- The Railsplitters are ranked fourth in the nation in scoring offense with 15.27 goals per game. Lincoln Memorial is also among the top five nationally in assists (147, 1st), ground balls (596, 1st), assists per game (9.8, 2nd), ground balls per game (39.73, 2nd), caused turnovers per game (11.47, 2nd) and points per game (25.07, 3rd).
- Golia is one of seven Railsplitters with at least 20 points this season along with
Kyle Arcuri (53),
Robert Tucker (35),
Chris Tucker (31),
Billy Kopsky (29),
Anthony Teresky (28) and
Dylan Neisler (22).
- The Railsplitters are 6-1 against nonconference foes this season with a number of dominant performances, including a 21-8 win over Palm Beach Atlantic, a 13-4 victory over Walsh, a 17-4 beatdown of Dominican and a 21-5 obliteration of Shorter.
- Lincoln Memorial has made the leap this season largely because of a massive improvement on face-offs. Last season, the Railsplitters won just 46.7 percent of their face-offs but that number has jumped to 52.6 percent this season.
Hunter Clark, who also ranks 19th in the country in ground balls per game with 6.33, has led that effort by winning 55.6 percent of his face-offs.
- The Railsplitters are one of only 13 teams in Division II men's lacrosse with at least 10 wins this season. LMU's 12 wins trail only the 14 compiled by Lenoir-Rhyne and the 13 recorded by Le Moyne and Rockhurst.
Know the Opponent:
- Davis & Elkins is 0-11 this season and has not come particularly close to sniffing victory. The Senators' narrowest margin of defeat is four goals in losses to Alderson Broaddus (11-7), Wilmington (14-10) and Ohio Valley (13-9).
- The Senators have been outscored 198-66 and been outshot 533-282 this season. Opponents are averaging 48.5 shots per game compared to Davis & Elkins' 25.6.
- Matthew Dyck leads the team with 24 points on 15 goals and nine assists, while Matt O'Dwyer has produced 13 goals and nine assists. Kyle Durec is the only other player with over 20 points with 16 goals and five assists.
- Kyle Seago and Luke Norcross have split time at goalie. Norcross has played the bulk of the minutes with 442:23. Over that span, he has allowed an average of 18.54 goals per game and accounted for a .386 save percentage.
- Davis & Elkins is 4-30 all-time in the program's three-season history. All of the Senators' wins came last season when they compiled a 4-10 mark.
- The Senators have the second-worst man-down defense in the nation, allowing opponents to convert on 62.8 percent of those opportunities. The Railsplitters have the 11th-best man-up offense in the country by scoring on 41.7 percent of those chances.
