YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. —The Lincoln Memorial women's lacrosse team ran into a buzz saw in its season opener against Young Harris, falling 16-5 in the midst of a steady rain in Young Harris, Ga.
 
Young Harris jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and kept the pressure on the Lady Railsplitters, leading 8-2 at halftime and scoring eight more goals in the second half to close out the contest. LMU scored early in the second half to cut the lead to 8-3, but the Mountain Lions would not let LMU back in the game.
 
Casey Kelly led the offensive attack for LMU, picking up two goals on three shots on goal. Other goal scorers for the Lady Railsplitters were Erin DePaul, Jasmin Click and Bella Shedio. 
 
Goalie Micayla Starnes was peppered with 23 shots on goal, while LMU was only able to manage 12 shots on goal against a stingy Mountain Lion defense. The Lady Railsplitters also turned the ball over 30 times. 
 
"Offensively we struggled to get anything going," said Head Coach Caitlyn Corace. "We were very stagnant and need to handle the ball a lot better."
 
The Mountain Lions were able to move the ball up field on the LMU defense, creating scoring opportunities and space in the offensive zone.
 
"In transition we need to clear space for each other to move the ball up the field," continued Corace. "When they were transitioning the ball we had trouble finding their midfielders up the middle of the field. They were able to find the midfielders with long passes."
 
LMU will play its next game at Georgetown College (Ky.) Wednesday. Between now and then, Corace will be focused on the offense.
 
"We just need to learn from this and get back to work," Corace said. "We have to figure out what we need to improve on offensively to put the ball in the back of the net."
 
Wednesday's game is a 6 pm start and can be followed at www.lmurailsplitters.com.