KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Missed opportunities cost the Lady Railsplitters in a big way on Saturday night in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Anderson Trojans at the Sansom Sports Complex. 
 
Seeking a third consecutive shutout victory for the first time since 2010, Lincoln Memorial (5-3, 1-2 SAC) was well on its way with a 1-0 lead at the halftime break. However, the Lady Railsplitters came up empty-handed on numerous scoring chances while Anderson (3-4, 3-0 SAC) drew level in the 59th minute and tallied the walk-off goal in the 91st minute to steal a South Atlantic Conference win in Knoxville. 
 
"We're disappointed with it," said LMU head coach Sean Fraser. "First half, we had complete control of the game, 80 percent of the ball at least and lots of chances. We discussed the scenarios that might happen, but we just didn't execute in the second half. 
 
"We had two or three chances in the second half, but we didn't execute. In games like this, you have to get that second goal and kill a team off. That's not what we did. I was pretty pleased for 60 minutes, but we took our foot off the pedal." 
 
The Lady Railsplitters dominated early and that eventually paid off in the 37th minute, when Mariana Diaz knocked in a goal off a corner from Itzel Ballesteros. Lincoln Memorial carried that one-goal lead into the break. It was Diaz's second goal of the season, while Ballesteros pushed her team-leading assist total to five. 
 
Anderson tied things up in the 59th minute, as the Trojans won the ball back on their offensive end of the field and Maggie Black sent a long cross into the box. Bethany Morgan ended up on the other end of that pass and made it count with a one-touch shot to tie it up at 1-1. 
 
Even before that equalizer from the Trojans, the match could have been out of hand if the Lady Railsplitters had been able to capitalize on their chances. Jessica Cravero nearly put in the first goal of the match in the 32nd minute, but her header hit the crossbar. Daisy Drake also fired off a shot in the 44th minute that was saved by Anderson keeper Abby Helm. 
 
Before regulation ended, Lincoln Memorial also conjured up several more significant scoring chances. Late in the second half, a long goal kick from Ann-Marie O'Connell sprung Caroline Souza into space with a one-on-one against the Anderson keeper, but she failed to get off a shot. With 20 seconds left in regulation, Maria Hernandez struck a beautiful ball that nearly won the game for the Lady Railsplitters, but instead bounced off the crossbar to send it to overtime. 
 
The Trojans then took advantage of their one scoring chance in overtime, as Gabbie Fleming sent a long through ball up the middle of the field for Kirsten Armetta, who put away the golden goal in the 91st minute. 
 
"We had plenty of chances, but we've got to be better," Fraser said. "When you're up 1-0, you've got to go get that second goal and kill the game off. We didn't do that. We let them hang around." 
 
The Lady Railsplitters lost despite outshooting the Trojans 18-9, including a 5-4 edge in shots on goal. Lincoln Memorial also earned nine corner-kick attempts compared to three for Anderson. 
 
Cravero led all players with seven shots and three shots on goal. She was one of four LMU players with multiple shot attempts in the match. 
 
The Lady Railsplitters will look to rebound on Wednesday, October 3 when they travel to Mars Hill, N.C. to face the Mars Hill Lions in SAC action at 5 p.m.