HARROGATE, Tenn. — The Lady Railsplitter lacrosse team will look to break its two-game losing streak on Saturday when it faces off against Lenior-Rhyne at 1 p.m. in a key South Atlantic Conference matchup at the LMU Lacrosse Complex.
 
Lincoln Memorial (9-4, 3-2 SAC) is in a dogfight with four other conference teams for the two through four spots in the conference standings. Lenoir-Rhyne (7-5, 3-1 SAC) comes into the LMU Lacrosse Complex trailing first-place Queens by one game and leading LMU by one game. L-R, Catawba (4-2), Wingate (2-2) and Tusculum (2-2) are all fighting for one of the top four slots and a home opening-round game in the upcoming SAC Women's Lacrosse Championship.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are looking to get back to their winning ways after suffering defeats to Wingate and nationally-ranked UIndy in its last two games. Lenoir-Rhyne comes in with a deceiving overall record having lost to four nationally-ranked teams this season.
 
"Lenoir-Rhyne has played some tough teams," Head Coach Caitlyn Corace said referring to Lenoir-Rhyne's 7-5 record. "They went down to Florida and played some tough teams on that trip. I understand their record. They will be tough for us." 
 
Playing up to the level of the competition is nothing new for an LMU team having faced two nationally-ranked teams itself.
 
"We have experience playing competitive lacrosse and competitive teams so we just have to show up. It's on us to show up because we know what L-R is going to bring," Corace said. "We have to respond."
 
With only three conference games remaining, the importance of getting a win against the Bears is critical.
 
"This is great for our conference and lacrosse in this area," Corace noted. "In the past it has been the bottom four or five battling for the last slots. Now there is less of a gap from top to bottom. There is more parity."
 
In the last two games, leading scorer Erin DePaul has been held to just one goal and one assist. The offense has been held to just 10 goals total in two games.  
 
"We just need to play our game," Corace said. "We've been preaching just do your job on offense and we'll be fine. If the person with the ball and the other six players on offense are doing their jobs we will be fine. We've done a few more situational things in practice this week, using the shot clock and giving them specific game scenarios so that when we get to game day things go more smoothly."
 
On the defensive front, Micayla Starnes is still sporting a goals against average of 9.5.
 
"Micayla is just fantastic, I don't have any more adjectives to describe her play this season," commented Corace. "She's just so steady for us and it shows her maturity as a sophomore."
 
The Bears offense revolves around Rachel Elmore, who has 35 goals this season, Alyssa Sack and Cathleen Gaffney. Sack has contributed 17 goals and Gaffney is the table setter with 25 assists. Defensively Lenior-Rhyne is giving up 13 goals a game and allowing an average of 30 shots per game.
 
"If we do what we are supposed to do on offense and make space we will get our opportunities," said Corace. "It is about capitalizing on the opportunities."
 
Video and live stats are available for Saturday's match at www.lmurailsplitters.com.