HARROGATE, Tenn. — 2019 has been a season of milestones for the Lincoln Memorial women's lacrosse program. On Tuesday, the Lady Railsplitters will add another milestone to the 2019 season when they host the first South Atlantic Conference tournament game in program history.
 
LMU (11-5) will face off against Coker (6-8) at 3 p.m. at the LMU Lacrosse Complex in the quarterfinals of the SAC Championship. The Lady Railspitters finished the regular season with a 5-3 conference record to earn the No. 3 seed behind regular-season champions Queens and runner-up Lenoir-Rhyne. Coker comes into the tournament as the No. 6 seed with a 2-6 conference record, winning the final bid to the conference tournament over Catawba and Tusculum.
 
"This is another milestone for the program," Head Coach Caitlyn Corace said. "Last year just making the tournament was a milestone and now we have moved a step further. The girls have known for about a week that we would be hosting and just waiting to see who we will play. This is another step in being competitive in the SAC."
 
LMU last played April 13 when it closed its conference schedule against Newberry with a 22-9 win. Last Friday's non-conference game against North Greenville was cancelled due to heavy rains, leaving LMU with its overall record at 11-5 for the season.
 
"The girls have known since Friday that we would be hosting," Corace said. "It helps knowing we will be on our home field, the familiarity in preparation and just knowing we don't have another road trip."
 
Lincoln Memorial faced Coker in its SAC-opening game on March 8 and came away with a 21-11 win. However, the score does not fully tell the story of the contest. LMU led 9-6 at the half and had a slim 11-9 lead with 18 minutes left in the game before breaking it open with a 9-1 scoring run.
 
"Coker is the kind of team that stays in a game and fights from end to end the entire game," Corace said. "In scouting their last few conference games they have been in games, whether a win or a loss. They push the ball and do a good job. This is going to be tough; it is not going to be easy. This is not the same team we saw a month and a half ago."
 
The Cobras are led by 62-goal scorer Faith Kent.
 
"We want to keep her in check and be ready for her style of play," said Corace. "Faith has a specific style of play and we have to keep our eye on her and do what we are supposed to do defensively. She is the quarterback of their offense and everything runs through her."
 
The Lincoln Memorial offense came alive in the final two games of the season, scoring 35 goals. Erin DePaul, Amara Moss, Casey Kelly, Kelly Csenar and Kennedy Buechner pace a balanced scoring attack.
 
"The key is consistency," Corace added. "We preach to them that we have to be consistent in everything we do as a unit offensively and defensively. It is about the consistency of working through the offense, seeing what opportunities we get and capitalizing. Consistency and capitalizing on our opportunities has been a big focal point for us."
 
For seniors Jasmin Click, Moss, Kelly and Melissa Saganich this will be the final home game of their career.
 
"These girls have had to play in a lot of games over their career and often without any subs," Corace said. "I hope they can look back at this game and say we are back in the playoffs again and playing on our home field. Hopefully this will be a great memory for them."
 
The winner between Lincoln Memorial and Coker advances to the SAC semifinals, where the Lady Railsplitters have never been, to face Lenoir-Rhyne at 1:30 p.m. on Friday in Wingate, N.C. 
 
Live stats and video will be available for Tuesday's match at www.lmurailsplitters.com.