Railsplitters Survive Physical Match With Tusculum

HARROGATE, TN – The Lincoln Memorial University men’s soccer team remained unbeaten in conference and region play Wednesday afternoon by defeating the visiting Pioneers of Tusculum College 3-2 on the Les Gibbs Field.

The match was a typical battle between the two east Tennessee schools, loaded with fouls, physical contact and played with a great deal of skill on both team’s parts.  Tusculum gained the upper hand early in the match when Telmo Dantes scored on a penalty kick following a hard Railsplitter foul only 3:44 into the match.

Nearly 17 minutes later, LMU’s Guilherme Alves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) used a precision pass from teammate Leandro Pereira (Brasilia, Brazil) to find the back of the net to even the match at 1-1.  The goal, which was scored at the 20:41 mark, stunned the Pioneers somewhat and the Railsplitters used that to their advantage.  Less than a minute later, Pereira scored a goal of his own when teammate Leonardo de Barros (Brasilia, Brazil) sent a cross in the box on a break and Pereira put into the back right corner to give the Railsplitters the go ahead goal.

Leading 2-1, LMU carried the lead into the intermission and came out in the second half with a stronger level of intensity.  Following approximately 25 minutes of defensive struggle, Railsplitter freshman Greg Lewandowski (Ontario, Canada) notched his first collegiate goal via a Tusculum deflection and the Railsplitters went on top 3-1.

Although they were down two goals and time was working against them, the Pioneers did anything but quit.  LMU goalkeeper Brent Cole (Knoxville, TN) made spectacular save after save but finally the Railsplitter defense broke and Tusculum’s Bruno Conceicao was able to use teammate Gareth Williams pass to pull the Pioneers to within a goal.  Conceicao’s goal came at the 79:35 mark, but proved to be Tusculum’s last and the Railsplitters held off the Pioneers the remainder of the way to come away with the 3-2 win.

Lincoln Memorial improves to 4-2 with the victory, 2-0 in South Atlantic Conference play and 4-0 in the Appalachian Region, while Tusculum falls to 2-4 and 0-1 in the conference.  This Saturday the Railsplitters play host to non-conference opponent Pfeiffer University in a match that will get underway at 2:00 p.m.