It took less than two minutes to show the fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial University women's soccer team was and what it intended to do at Saints Field in the NCAA Southeast Regional Quarterfinal.
Rachel Taylor took the initiative, rebounding a shot from
Itzel Ballesteros and sticking it left and past the goalkeeper for her first NCAA Tournament score at the one-minute, 39-second minute mark for the first of three goals in the Lady Railsplitters' 3-1 victory over No. 5-seeded UNC Pembroke Friday in St. Augustine, Fla.
"I think in the first two minutes, we came out ready to do what we wanted to do and show teams what we want to do in this tournament," Taylor said. "I was in the right place at the right time to easily pass the ball into the goal. I think in the tournament everyone has to step their game up and it's critical every player does the best they can because the stakes are high. If you lose, you go home and none of us are ready to go home yet."
Shooting itself through the first round behind 11 shots, including seven on goal, to the Braves' eight and two on goal, LMU (17-4) now will face the winner of No. 1 Flagler versus No. 8 Catawba at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Once Taylor punched through her ninth goal of the season, it was UNC Pembroke (15-5-1) who scored next in the 29th minute as Bayley Dawson and Brianna De Coteau teamed up and found Rilee Serring to knot it at 1-all.
The tie didn't last long, though.
It was Taylor again, but this time on the send as the sophomore sent a corner up and to the head of
Ermelinda Pantaleao for the header score — the junior's third — and the lead for good in the 33rd minute.
"Rach was excellent both in and out of possession," LMU head coach
Sean Fraser said. "She's an honest player who works hard every day and we're proud of her. She's developing her confidence when driving at defenders now and that's an exciting prospect."
The 2-1 lead carried the Lady Railsplitters into halftime, and then Ballesteros put it into her hands to put the finishing touches on the NCAA Tournament victory.
In the 76th minute,
Daisy Drake found her and the senior forward did the rest, juking past the goalkeeper and connecting easily for her 10th score to cap off the three-goal victory to send the Lady Railsplitters into round two.
"Itzel did well, she worked hard and always looked dangerous," Fraser said. "Once she started combining with her teammates, it opened up some channels for her to exploit and she did that with her goal."
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 women's soccer team through the 2019 season.
