Harrogate, TN – The Lincoln Memorial women's soccer team defeated the Converse Valkyries Wednesday evening 4-1.

The first ten minutes each team was able to get a couple of shots off, but were off-target. Despite that, Lincoln Memorial remained on their attacking end of the field.

In the 10^th minute, the Railspllitters took the early goal as Paige Branam passes through the Converse defensive line to Ellie Snyder, who slips the ball to the back of the net to make the score 1-0. 

After the goal, LMU continued to pressure the Valkyrie defense as Sophia Berglund fired off a shot in the 18^th minute, Jade Brown in the 20th minute, and Berglund again in the 21^st minute, all saved. 

Converse made some offensive plays when they got to their offensive end, but their shots were off frame. Lincoln Memorial continued to be a threat in the offense as Viktoria Filsner took a shot on frame in the 32^nd minute and Donna van der Zalm did the same in the 35^th minute, both saved. 

Converse equalized the match as in the 39^th minute, as Novik scored off of a shot bounced back from the crossbar to even up the match 1-1.

The Railsplitters took one more chance at goal to try to regain back the lead with Edie Wilds and van der Zalm taking shots in the 40^th and 41^st minute, but were blocked and saved, respectively. The score at the end of the half was tied at 1-1.

Lincoln Memorial went into the second half with strong offensive urge as the Railsplitters extended their lead by two more goals by the 50^th minute. The first goal of the half was by Branam in the 48^th minute, as Riley Miller crossed the ball from the right side of the 18-yard box to Filsner to the left of the 6-yard box, and Filsner passed it to Branam right in front of goal to make the lead 2-1.

Two minutes later in the 50^th minute, a repeat of the first half goal occurred as Branam once again passed a through ball through the Valkyries' back line to Snyder, who finished the ball off of the crossbar to give the Railsplitters the 3-1 lead.

LMU continued to build and extend the lead to three goals as Jade Brown battled at the end line with a Converse player to cross the ball to Branam, who headed the ball past the keeper in the 55^th minute to make the lead 4-1 with the LMU advantage.

Lincoln Memorial continued to push the offense as they took multiple shots throughout the half but were either off-target or blocked. Converse's first on-goal opportunity came in the 80^th minute, which Emma Cooke saved, and then in the 83^rd minute, which Cooke also saved.

The Railsplitter's final goal-scoring chance of the match was in the 89^th minute where Rylee Whalen took a shot, but it didn't have enough power to get to the back of the net as it was saved by the Converse keeper. With that being the last shot attempt by either team, Lincoln Memorial defeated the Converse Valkyries 4-1.

Branam finished the afternoon with six points for two goals and two assists on the evening, and Snyder was behind her with four points for two goals. Brown and Filsner each tallied one point for one assist each. Branam led the team in shots with five and shots on goal with three. Filsner, Berglund, and van der Zalm followed with three shots each. Cooke played all 90 minutes in goal and earned herself three saves.

As a team, Lincoln Memorial doubled Converse's shots as LMU took 20 and Converse took 9. The Railsplitters also doubled the Valkyries' shots on goal with 12. LMU recorded three saves and six corner kicks.

With the win, Lincoln Memorial improves to 3-3-1 overall and Converse drops to 2-3-2 overall.

The Railsplitters will play their first SAC match up at home as they host Coker on Saturday, September 27^th at 2:30 pm.