BARBOURVILLE, Ky. — Breaking through.
 
After the Wolves scored two second-half goals to match Lincoln Memorial's pair in the first 45 minutes, it took seven more minutes to find the result LMU came to Barbourville, Ky., Sunday to get.
 
But when the Lady Railsplitters needed an answer, Itzel Ballesteros was there. In the 97th minute, the senior forward collected Thenia Zervas' third assist of the day and put it home, pushing LMU over South Atlantic Conference opponent Newberry, 3-2, in overtime.
 
"It was very fast paced today, which is our type of game and we were able to pull through," Ballesteros said. "It made me happy to be able to score the winning goal today because we had so many great performances on the field, and we deserved to win. Now, we just need to come together as a team and work together on a few things we need to improve on. We need to stay switched on and focused on what's next."
 
The Lady Railsplitters were clicking on all cylinders in the first half, scoring in the ninth minute as Jessica Cravero headed in a corner send from Thenia Zervas for the quick 1-nil lead. It was the same result when the 20th minute rolled around — Cravero heading in her second goal of the day but this time it came via a cross from Zervas.
 
The trio assist performance from the JUCO transfer Zervas pushed her to 13 on the season, while Cravero's multi-goal day was her second this week and fifth this season to put her at 12 on the year. Both of those categories lead the SAC.
 
LMU took the two-goal lead into halftime, outshooting the Wolves 15-7 for the full match while having six corner kicks to Newberry's zero.
 
But before Ballesteros' first goal since she scored two versus Lees-McRae Oct. 9 and her seventh overall for the season, the Wolves (6-5-3, 3-5-1 SAC) made things very interesting.
 
Within five minutes — beginning in the 74th minute — Newberry came within a goal via Vanessa Baird before Catherine McKeown matched it to knot it up with LMU (11-4, 4-4), but the Lady Railsplitters didn't let the Wolves have the golden goal.
 
LMU took it instead, leading to a much-needed match win as conference play begins to wind down.
 
"We did really well in the first half minus one action that led to a chance for Newberry," LMU head coach Sean Fraser said, "but through control and great finishing, we came in at half time with a well-earned lead. There was a 20-minute spell in the second half when we lost our composure, but I'm enthused that we managed to show a little character to grab what is a huge conference win.
 
"We've got to now develop a little confidence while continuing to add to our game model and start putting in complete performances."
 
Up Next: The Lady Railsplitters will wrap up road conference play with a 1 p.m. matchup at Coker Saturday.
 
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms —@LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram — for complete coverage of the LMU soccer teams through the 2019 season.