Mars Hill, NC - Lincoln Memorial women's lacrosse defeats the Mars Hill Lions 15-5 to end the 2026 season.
Mars Hill opened up the match as they scored with 12:22 remaining in the first. Six minutes later, LMU answered with their first goal of the day as
Josie Tinnerello scored off of
Briana Martinez at the 6:45 mark. The Lions then extended the lead with back-to-back goals to end the quarter to give Mars Hill the 1-3 advantage going into the second.
Things started to piece together for the Railsplitters as they went on a three-goal scoring run, beginning with
Ryan Smith finding Tinnerello for her second goal of the day with 13:54 remaining. Tinnerello recorded the hat trick at the 10:38 mark, as
Jaiden Jaynes put her name on the box score with the assist, and continued to tally up the points with another goal not even a minute later with
Abby Durkin dishing her the pass. The Lions scored their lone goal of the quarter with 3:31 remaining, but Tinnerello continued to be a force with her fifth goal of the game with a minute remaining to give Lincoln Memorial the 5-4 lead heading into halftime.
LMU continued right where they left off in the third, as they added four goals to their lead over the first ten minutes of the quarter. The scoring began with Smith at the 13:23 mark, followed by
Naomi Spangler with 10:21 remaining. Tinnerello was next up to score with 10:21 remaining, and Martinez finished the run with a goal off of a
Ruby Copeland assist at the 5:31 mark. Despite the Lions scoring a goal in the last minute in the third, Lincoln Memorial remained in the lead going into the final frame 9-5.
The Railsplitters stayed on top of the offensive pressure in the fourth, as they began scoring right away with a Tinnerello unassisted goal with 14:22 remaining. The scoring continued for LMU as Martinez started the run (assisted by Tinnerello) at the 10:16 mark, Copeland added a goal with 7:16 remaining, Copeland found Tinnerello for a goal with 5:17 remaining, and Jaynes finished off of an assist by Copeland at the 3:36 mark. The last goal from Lincoln Memorial came with 34 seconds left in the match, as Smith gave an assist to Tinnerello, giving LMU the 15-5 victory.
Tinnerello led the team in points with ten as she scored nine goals and one assist, finishing her career tying her own record for number of goals in a single game. Copeland followed with four points as she had one goal and three assists. Smith and Martinez both finished with three points, with Smith tallying one goal and two assists and Martinez scoring two goals and one assist. Jaynes was next with two points with a goal and an assist. Spangler and Durkin rounded out the points with one each as Spangler scored one goal and Durkin dished an assist.
Tinnerello was the team-leader in shots and shots on goal with 12 and 11, respectively.
Jovie Favati finished with team-high five ground balls, and
Mary Kostus led in caused turnovers with three. Spangler led the team in draw controls as she recorded five. Goalkeepers Favati and
Emily Mirabile both had time in goal and recorded three saves each.
As a team, Lincoln Memorial took 33 shots, with 20 being on goal, recorded 30 ground balls, six saves, 29 successful clears, and 11 draw controls.
With the win, Lincoln Memorial improves to 7-10 overall and 3-7 in conference play, and Mars Hill drops to 3-11 overall and 0-10 in the SAC.
LMU women's lacrosse ends the 2026 season on a positive note, leaving it all on the field. The team finishes their season with a 6-10 overall record, including 6-4 at home.
