MARS HILL, N.C. – Holding Mars Hill without a goal over the final 42 minutes of action on Thursday evening in the third South Atlantic Conference affair of 2021, the Lincoln Memorial University women's soccer team let its kicking do the talking over the first half before turning its trust to the defense over the final period.

The result was a 2-1 road victory over the Lions in North Carolina, signifying the Lady Railsplitters' fourth win in a row over MHU dating back to 2017.

Serving as the aggressor early and often across a first half that saw a 10-1 shot discrepancy in the blue and gray's favor, two of those attempts found the back of the net almost exactly 20 minutes apart from one another. Relying more on their defensive stance in the final 45 minutes, the Lady Railsplitters suffered one blow just over two minutes into the period but would shake off that blunder and cling to the one-goal victory, their second win of the season by that margin.

Out-shooting the Lions by a sizable deficit at 18-6, LMU (2-0-1) cashed in on two of their ten opportunities to put points on the board in the early going, cementing the first time in three appearances on the year of scoring in the opening half.

At the 21:38 stamp of the first period, junior forward Jessica Cravero found classmate Rachel Taylor to put the Lady Railsplitters on top. Serving as the ninth assist of Cravero's collegiate career, Taylor continued her streak of scoring one goal each in all three of LMU's meetings in 2021.

Not satisfied with a one-goal cushion, senior midfielder Graciela Palencia added to the Lady Railsplitters' lead with just under three minutes to go until the intermission, striking from far out to collect her third goal during her tenure in Harrogate.

Held to just one shot in the entire first half, Mars Hill (0-3) rejuvenated themselves after the halftime break, quickly trimming the lead in half thanks to a successful penalty kick by Sanne Martinsen after an LMU yellow card at the 47:13 mark.

Despite four more chances down the stretch to provide the tying goal, the Lions were unable to do so thanks to the keep-away strategy deployed by the Lady Railsplitters and an overtime-saving leap from goalkeeper Manuely Costa with 20 minutes left in the contest.

Both Costa and starter Lynzie Hulle accumulated one save each in the W, preventing Mars Hill from stealing a tie or even a win over a very stingy defensive showing by LMU in the second half.

Of the Lady Railsplitters' 18 shots, exactly half of them came from the feet of Taylor, who produced two more shots on goal by herself than the entire Mars Hill roster on Thursday. Palencia and freshman Merel Houweling combined for six shots in the victory, while Cravero, Katherine Browning, and Alda Tarrardo each recorded one apiece.

83% of the Lions' shot attempts came from one individual, as all but one MHU shot came from the leg of Martinsen. Defender Baylee Farr was the only other player on the roster to get by the LMU defense for a shot attempt, unable to turn that into a goal. In a similar strategy to the Lady Railsplitters, who saw 45 minutes each for both goalies, Victoria Forren allowed both LMU goals in the opening half before Sarah Paiva subbed in for the second period, holding Head Coach Matthew Carr's unit scoreless behind five saves.

The one-sided first frame was enough for the Lady Railsplitters to get by Mars Hill at the halfway point of the 2021 campaign, having now outscored the Lions over their four-game winning streak in the series by a 13-3 clip.
 
Up Next
 
Following next week's intended rematch with Carson-Newman being shelved for the time being and relegated to a postponement, LMU will be forced to wait 14 days before competing again. In a case of déjà vu, the Lady Railsplitters will face off with Mars Hill yet again in that next meeting, to be held on Thursday, March 25^th in the fourth SAC contest of the season.
 
How to Follow
 
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Lady Railsplitter soccer across the 2021 season.