ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Lincoln Memorial men's lacrosse team led at the half, but No. 18 Lindenwood opened the third quarter on a 5-0 run and never looked back to waltz to a 14-7 win on Saturday afternoon in St. Charles, Mo. The Lions improved to 2-0 on the young season, while the Railsplitters were denied the first 3-0 start in program history, falling to 2-1 overall.
 
Lindenwood doubled up the Railsplitters on the shot chart, finishing with a 52-26 advantage in that department, including a 29-15 edge in shots on goal. The Lions also grabbed 41 ground balls compared to 32 for Lincoln Memorial, though the Railsplitters went 15-for-23 on face-offs. 
 
Ian Cook paced the Railsplitters with four goals on seven shots and five shots on goals while corralling four ground balls. Robert Tucker chipped in with a goal and two assists, while Kyle Arcuri contributed two assists. Reggie Golfin and Joe Conklin also scored a goal apiece. Hunter Clark led the way with nine ground balls and went 12-for-17 on face-offs. 
 
Trenton Cameron turned in an inspired effort in net despite the loss, making 15 saves across 60 minutes of work. The 15 saves are tied for the ninth-most in program history and the most since Michael Kessler recorded 19 against Wingate in the semifinals of the 2018 South Atlantic Conference tournament. 
 
Carter Collins, Sean Darroch and Lenard Jones led Lindenwood with four points apiece, while Grant Glazier contributed three. 
 
Despite combining for 15 shots, neither Lincoln Memorial or Lindenwood put a goal through in the first quarter. 
 
The Lions broke the scoreless tie at the 12-minute mark of the second quarter on a goal by Darroch, while Andrew Hasz doubled the score at 9:49. 
 
The Railsplitters finally got something going offensively after that, answering and tying the game at 2-2 on goals from Golfin and Conklin, but Lindenwood again reclaimed the lead on another goal for Darroch with 6:39 left in the half. 
 
Lincoln Memorial then surged in the final 90 seconds of the half, as Tucker scored a man-up goal with 1:23 left to tie the game and Cook tallied with two seconds remaining to send the Railsplitters into the break with a 4-3 lead. 
 
A totally different Lindenwood team came out in the second half, though, as the Lions stormed ahead for good with two quick goals by Collins. Darroch, Hasz and Garrett Brusvold also tallied during a dominant 5-0 run that gave the Lions a commanding 8-4 lead. 
 
Cook briefly stopped the bleeding with a goal at the 4:12 mark of the third, but Lindenwood scored twice more in the final 37 seconds to take a 10-5 lead into the fourth. 
 
Cook scored two more goals in the fourth quarter, but the Railsplitters never cut the deficit to fewer than five after Lindenwood's third-quarter surge. 
 
The Railsplitters will try to rebound on Monday when they face Maryville in St. Louis, Mo., at 2 p.m.