Harrogate, TN - The Lincoln Memorial men's lacrosse team was back in action on its home turf for a midday game on Tuesday against the Virginia State Trojans. It was the first men's lacrosse game in program history for the Trojans, while the Railsplitters were coming off of a throttling of Chowan over the weekend.

Lincoln Memorial wasted no time in introducing Virginia State to men's lacrosse. Seven seconds into the game, Cole Morris introduced the Trojans to the sport with a laser beam on the assist from Ashton Wilson to give the Railsplitters a 1-0 lead nearly immediately. Just over one minute later, speedster Daniel Pearl connected on his first goal of the game, the team's second, to take a 2-0 in only two minutes of action. Lincoln Memorial made it clear that it had no intentions of "taking it easy" on Virginia State, jumping out to a 3-0 lead by the 12:00 mark of the first quarter when Quinn Hepler found the net with help from Pearl. With the Railsplitters slowing their pace, nearly four minutes eked off the clock before the next goal. With 8:44 left in the opening frame, Jordan Castro added Lincoln Memorial's fourth goal of the game unassisted. 90-seconds later, Wilson got in on the scoring action, tallying his first goal of the game after having had assisted on the game's first goal. The Railsplitters maintained a 5-0 advantage with 6:25 left in the first period.

With 4:29 remaining in the first quarter, Kalani Laughlin scored the first men's lacrosse goal in Virginia State history, with help from Donovan Elmore, who also recorded the Trojans' first assist in program history. Already with five goals, Lincoln Memorial wasn't done scoring in the first period. Francis O'Hara, Jensen Jones, and Morris all scored one goal each within the span of one minute. O'Hara found the net at 2:09, Jones at 1:28, and Morris at 1:07. O'Hara tallied an assist on Morris' goal. The Railsplitters took an 8-1 lead into the second period.

The second was much like the first, a master class of speed an offensive efficiency from Lincoln Memorial. After having scored in the final minute and a half of the first period, Jones began to heat up, scoring his second goal of the game just two minutes into the second quarter, giving the Railsplitters a 9-1 lead. 1:30 later, Noah Fell Ranshaw got in on the offensive clinic from Lincoln Memorial, netting a goal to give the Railsplitters a commanding 10-1 lead. Nearly eight full minutes went by before the game's next goal. With 3:50 remaining in the first half, Andre Bingham scored Virginia State's second goal of the game on a man-advantage following a Railsplitter penalty, bringing the Trojans back to within eight goals, 10-2. Lincoln Memorial wouldn't allow Virginia State to score again in the first half, while rattling off four more goals to take a 14-2 lead into the half. To round out the final 3:26 of the first half, Jones was assisted by Alex Winters on a goal, O'Hara scored a goal, Nick Spooner tallied his first goal of the game assisted by Morris, and O'Hara scored again with 5-seconds remaining in the half.

It would appear that Virginia State adapted some of Lincoln Memorial's tendencies to start the second half, as the Trojans came out at full-speed, scoring in the first five seconds of the second half, making a strong statement. Laughlin scored his second goal of the game to pull Virginia State closer by a hair, seeing the Railsplitters maintain a 14-3 lead. Just over one minute later, Devray Kirkland II scored his first goal of the game for Virginia State, the team's fourth, drawing the score back to within 10, 14-4. Lincoln Memorial had seen enough, and began to ratchet up the defensive intensity, while mirroring that intensity on offense, scoring eight more goals over the course of the next 10 minutes, while holding Virginia State scoreless. Pearl scored on an assist from O'Hara. Morris scored unassisted, Caleb Raydo scored on an assist from Pearl, Kevin Jendrasik scored back-to-back goals, with Winters assisting on the second. Jack Snider scored unassisted. Spooner scored on the assist from Morris, and Gavin Reid scored on an assist from Tanner Cave, giving Lincoln Memorial its 22nd and final goal of the game. The Trojans added one more goal in the waning seconds of the game as Bill Lee scored unassisted.

Francis O'Hara, Cole Morris, and Jensen Jones each recorded the hatter with three goals apiece. Morris and O'Hara also added two dimes each. Daniel Pearl, Kevin Jendrasik, and Cole Morris each joined the dub club with two goals apiece. Pearl added two dimes as well, and is currently leading the team in assists for the season. Lincoln Memorial had a bevy of players score in the game. Ashton Wilson, Gavin Reid, Noah Fell Ranshaw, Jordan Castro, Quinn Hepler, Jack Snider, and Caleb Raydo each tallied one goal.

The Railsplitters will take to Knox Catholic this Saturday to take on the University of Alabama-Huntsville at 5:00 PM.