#5 Railsplitters Stumble Against Unranked Lewis University

HARROGATE, TN – For the first time since October 17, 2004, when they lost to Christian Brothers University, the Lincoln Memorial University men’s soccer team suffered a loss on the home turf.  On Sunday afternoon the Flyers of Lewis University came to the Les Gibbs Field and handed the fifth-ranked Railsplitters a 3-2 loss to drop LMU to 1-1 on the year.

As soon as Sunday’s match started in was evident the Railsplitters were flat.  To make matters worse, LMU’s second leading scorer, Leonardo Barros (Brasilia, Brazil) went out in the early minutes due to cramping and dehydration.  The Flyers used those factors to capitalize offensively and slammed their first goal into the back of the net only 2 minutes 9 seconds into the match when LU’s Cory Mastey scored on a penalty kick to put the Flyers up 1-0.   

While the goal inspired the Flyers, the Railsplitters were somewhat stunned and may have thought the goal was just a fluke.  Less than two minutes later however, the fluke became a harsh reality for Lincoln Memorial as Mastey struck again, this time with help from teammates Armin Vrabec and Jorge De Jesus to make it 2-0 Lewis University.

Trailing by two goals, LMU finally managed to get on the scoreboard in the twenty-second minute when sophomore Felipe Nogueira (Uberaba, Brazil) scored unassisted on a direct kick to close the gap to 2-1 in favor of LU.  Following a defensive struggle that lasted most of the remaining minutes of the half, Nogueira again came up big for Lincoln Memorial when he took teammate Marcelo Galafassi’s (Jundiai, Brazil) corner kick and hit the back of the net to tie the match at 2-2 with less than two minutes before the intermission.  The two teams eventually ended the first half deadlocked at 2-2.

The beginning of the second half had different meanings for both team.  For the Flyers, they had played the first forty-five minutes toe-to-toe with the #5 ranked team in the country which was loaded with veterans.  The last forty-five minutes would have to be played with everything to upset LMU on their home field, something very few teams had been able to due since Helio D’Anna took over the program over four years ago.  For Lincoln Memorial, the second half meant new life.  Since the match was now tied, the Railsplitters figured they would be able to play their style of game and as usually happens; they would come out on top.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t about to happen.

One second shy of seven minutes into the second half, Lewis University’s Nestor Hernandez caught a pass from teammates Jorge De Jesus and Cory Mastey and again put the Flyers on top 3-2.  Now the Railsplitters were back in the situation they had played in most of the first half.  Despite numerous shots throughout the remainder of the match, LMU was denied the equalizer and the Flyers escaped Harrogate with the upset victory over the defending Appalachian Region Champions to remain unbeaten at 2-0.