MARS HILL, N.C. – Biding their time until the right moment towards the final lap of the second half in their first South Atlantic Conference meeting in over two weeks, the Lincoln Memorial University women's soccer squad vanquished the Lions of Mars Hill on Friday evening thanks to junior forward Jessica Cravero's 40^th career goal with 12 minutes left on the clock.

As the Lady Railsplitters (3-0-1) picked up the 1-0 victory over the Lions, their second consecutive W over the same opponent, Head Coach Matthew Carr's unit stayed persistent on the offensive end to grab their third conference triumph of the spring season.

In a similar manner to LMU's 2-1 win over Mars Hill 15 days prior, the blue and gray controlled the tempo for the majority of the match, leading to the Lady Railsplitters' 17-8 cushion in total shot attempts. Cravero led the way in that category with seven of her own tries, although it wouldn't be until the final attempt that the Italian striker found the back of the net.

LMU kept Mars Hill on their toes over the first 45 minutes of play, staying in attack mode for eight shot attempts, although none of them would put the Lady Railsplitters on the board. Rifling in three shot tries over the final ten minutes to no avail, LMU was forced to head into the locker room with a 0-0 stalemate on its hands.

Cravero nearly ended the dry spell in the opening moments of half # 2, bouncing off consecutive looks at the goal just ten seconds apart. Both kicks fell wide of the mark, and LMU had to settle for another empty trip.

Sarah Paiva spent the entire afternoon at the goalkeeping spot for the Lions, accumulating three saves over the course of the game. For the second straight outing, the Lady Railsplitters split time at goalie between Manuely Costa and Lynzie Hulle, combining to save three of MHU's eight shot tries.

Withstanding back-to-back corner kick opportunities and a blocked shot from Sanne Martinsen near the 59-minute mark, the Lady Railsplitter defensive unit held strong on the rare occasions that the Lions had a seam to go for a clear shot. LMU limited Mars Hill to just a pair of shot attempts over the remaining 30 minutes of action.

In the span of 180 seconds beginning around the 75-minute clip, LMU's constant pounding on the door eventually led to a breakthrough. After consecutive missed shots from freshman Corrine Denton and junior Rachel Taylor, Cravero at last was able to zoom the ball past the MHU back line and give the blue and gray a 1-0 lead they would enjoy over the final 12 minutes.

LMU continued to put their foot on the gas throughout the home stretch, reaching four more corner kick opportunities to keep Mars Hill as far away from the opposite end of the field as possible. Due to that aggressive ball movement and keep-away mentality after Cravero's goal, the Lady Railsplitters captured their 5^th win in a row over the Lions and second W over MHU in a two-week period.

Seven different LMU jerseys recorded at least one shot attempt in the tight win, with Cravero and Denton combining for 11 of the 17 tries in total. Through the first four games of the six-game slate, all six of the Lady Railsplitters' goals have come from either Cravero or Taylor.

Martinsen, Baylee Farr, and Amanda Waskiewicz finished as the only three Lions to tally a shot in defeat, with Martinsen accounting for six of the eight occasions. LMU has now outscored its opponents thus far on the year by a 6-3 margin after getting the better of Mars Hill for the second straight time this spring.

Cravero's 78^th-minute game-winner advanced the junior into sole possession of 3^rd place in the all-time record books at Lincoln Memorial, breaking a tie with Kristen Boujos from the 2004-05 campaigns. The preseason All-SAC first teamer landed one of the two strikes from the Lady Railsplitters' win over MHU two weeks prior, this time closing the door on their third win of the semester in four tries.

Emerging as the top points-collector in Pod 3 of the South Atlantic Conference's COVID-separated league standings, LMU holds a slim lead over Carson-Newman in the four-team group that also includes Mars Hill and Tusculum, currently tied for 4^th across the entire conference alongside Lenoir-Rhyne with 10 points to break the double-digit barrier.
 
Up Next
 
Opening up a string of three matches in a seven-day stretch to close out the 2021 regular season, the Lady Railsplitters won't have much time to rest before their next meeting, as another road trip awaits on Sunday evening to battle Carson-Newman 31 days after beginning the season with a 2-1 double overtime thriller over the Eagles in Jefferson City. In part two against their oldest rival to close the weekend, the bout will be held on a neutral field at Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tenn. due to unplayable field conditions in Harrogate.

C-N has looked mighty impressive since suffering their lone loss of the year to the blue and gray back on February 25^th in dramatic fashion, shutting out both Mars Hill and Tusculum by a combined 11-0 margin before most recently squeezing out a 3-2 overtime victory against the Pioneers in the rematch at home 24 hours before LMU's W over the Lions.

Hoping for more of the same results in the second go-around against the Eagles, first touch on Sunday is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
 
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.