SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.V. —Lincoln Memorial's women's lacrosse team continues its season-opening road trip with a pair of contests this weekend in the Mountain State.
 
The Lady Railsplitters will visit Shepherd University for a 1 p.m. match on Saturday before making the short trip over to Elkins for a Monday tilt against Davis & Elkins College. That match is set to get underway at 1 p.m. as well. The two weekend games will end the season-opening road schedule as the Lady Railsplitters return to the LMU Lacrosse Complex on March 5.
 
LMU is coming off a 16-11 victory at Georgetown College Wednesday that evened its record at 1-1. LMU lost its season opener at Young Harris 16-5.
 
"We played a strong game Wednesday where we were able to play both offense and defense," said Head Coach Caitlyn Corace. "Against Young Harris we were on the defensive most of the game."
 
Shepherd will present a strong test for LMU. The Rams are picked to finish second in the Mountain East Conference. This will also be the season opener for Shepherd.
 
"We wanted to have challenging games opening the season so we can see what we have to do to prepare for conference games," noted Corace. "We have our first SAC game on March 9. This will be a very competitive game.  Shepherd is a good program so I'm excited to see what we bring to the table Saturday."
 
A focus for LMU will be Shepherd's Lillian Funke, who scored 49 goals last season.
 
"She is a big threat," said Corace. "We are going to try and catch her in the midfield and keep an eye on her. They really look to her a lot and probably more so this year."
 
On Wednesday night, LMU's top scorers all chipped in with goals, led by Erin DePaul, who found the back of the net seven times. Attacker Casey Kelly and midfielder Amara Moss also contributed with two goals each.
 
"Erin did a good job of seeing her openings and taking advantage of her opportunities," Corace said. "She clearly capitalized on her chances."
 
Since both Shepherd and Davis & Elkins are opening their seasons, Corace and her staff have not been able to look at current film.
 
"Since it's early in the season we've only been able to look at what a team's tendencies are," pointed out Corace. "We've already played two games and this will be their first game so I'm hoping that will help even the playing field out a bit."
 
Monday, LMU will be facing a Davis & Elkins team that posted a 3-13 record last year. 
 
"Davis & Elkins is a newer program but we have to be ready regardless of their record last year," said Corace. "It's their first game as well so we don't have much of a scouting report. We will just go off what we have from last year. We have to go into the game playing LMU lacrosse and not get caught up in what the other team is doing."
 
Playing two games in 48 hours will be difficult, but it is part of the building process for this team.
 
"It is going to be difficult, but luckily we will be able to get a practice in between games," Corace said. "There are times when you are going to have that quick turnaround, especially at the end of the season when you get into the playoffs.
 
"Wednesday was a huge confidence booster for the girls," continued Corace. "Being able to actually complete offensive sets and hit the back of the net is going to give us confidence moving forward. Now they believe they can do this. All we have to do is get into a rhythm and we'll be fine."