Lady Railsplitter Soccer Defeats #7 Ranked Tusculum For The First Time Since 1999

HARROGATE, TN – For the first time since 1999, the Lincoln Memorial University women’s soccer team defeated cross-state rival Tusculum College 3-1 to break a seven-year streak during which LMU either lost to or tied with the Pioneers.

Speculation by many away from the program entering Wednesday’s match was that the Lady Railsplitters couldn’t play with the seventh ranked Pioneers.  That thought was quickly put to rest early in the match when LMU’s Juliana Povoa (Brasilia, Brazil) scored at the 18:06 mark off teammate Heloisa de Oliveira’s (Campinas, Brazil) pass in front of the goal to give the Lady Railsplitters a 1-0 lead.

Over the next 24 minutes, the Lady Railsplitters bombarded Tusculum with a barrage of shots, testing Pioneer goalkeeper Tori Hadjopolous who ended the match with three saves and three goals against.  Then, just before the half, LMU senior Camilla Verissimo (Brasilia, Brazil) stole the ball from a Tusculum player and scored unassisted at 43:22 to give the Lady Railsplitters a 2-0 advantage going into the half.

After taking the 2-0 lead into the intermission, Lincoln Memorial wasted little time in putting an insurance goal on the board in the early minutes of the second half.  At 54:25, LMU freshman Becky Thompson (Frederick, MD) sent a pass in from the left side and teammate Karina Campos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) found the back of the net to give the Lady Splitters a commanding 3-0 lead.

As the match wore on, Tusculum appeared to have little more then defense left and couldn’t muster a lethal offensive attack until Courtney Turner scored unassisted in the ninetieth minute to bring the final score to 3-1.

The win drops Tusculum to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in the South Atlantic Conference, while the LMU women improve to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in league play.  The LMU women are now 7-6-1 all-time against Tusculum College with the possibility of squaring off against the Pioneers again in SAC Tournament in early November.  The Lady Railsplitter’s next match will be September 25 when they travel to Montgomery, West Virginia to take on West Virginia Tech.  That match will get underway at 3:00 p.m.