GATLINBURG, Tenn. — Lincoln Memorial's women's lacrosse team (5-1, 1-0 SAC) opened South Atlantic Conference play on Friday with a 21-11 victory over Coker College at the Rocky Top Sports World complex in Gatlinburg, Tenn. The win was the fifth in a row for the Lady Railsplitters, extending the program record for consecutive victories.  
 
LMU again used a potent offensive attack and strong defense to dispatch the Cobras. With the game tied 3-3 at the 18-minute mark of the first half, Melanie Cascio scored to put the Lady Railsplitters ahead for good. LMU kept its foot on the gas in the second half and used a 9-1 run to put the contest out of reach.
 
Erin DePaul and Amara Moss led the way with five goals each, while Kelly Csenar and Cascio found the back of the net for three goals each. Jasmin Click and Casey Kelly each scored twice and Rachel Bernhardt closed out the scoring with a goal.  
 
The offense was again the story as the Lady Railsplitters had a decided advantage in shots on goal by a 38-23 margin. Defensively, goalie Mikayla Starnes was again sharp between the pipes.
 
"The girls did a really good job with their defensive matchups and Mikayla did another really good job in goal today," said Head Coach Caitlyn Corace. "It was a great defensive effort as a whole."
 
Lincoln Memorial held a 9-6 halftime lead but the Cobras kept the match close early in the second half, closing to 11-9 at the 22:29 mark. Corace used a timeout to stem the tide.
 
"I told the girls that we needed to tighten up and be smart with the ball," recalled Corace. "We needed to limit our turnovers. The team settled down and went out and fixed the mistakes."
 
The offense took over and went on its 9-1 run to put the game out of reach.  
 
"They did a really good job of finding their openings and when their shots were off the mark they kept shooting," Corace said. "The offense worked very well together again today."
 
In addition to her five goals, DePaul had two assists and totaled 12 shots. Moss had an assist and eight shots, Csenar had two assists and nine shots and Cascio chipped in with three assists and eight shots.
 
Corace has been stressing clock management with the team, both on the offensive end and the defensive end of the field. LMU forced Coker into several time clock violations while shortening the game by using most of its 90 seconds on offense.
 
"Clock management is a big part of our game, both with the shot clock and game clock," stated Corace. "We did a good job of possessing the ball and controlling the clock."
 
The 21 goals are the most-ever for the Lady Railsplitters in a SAC match and fell one short of matching the program record. 
 
Next up for LMU is a nonconference game against Lee University on March 13 at the LMU Lacrosse Complex.