5-0 Shutout Of Brevard Moves Railsplitters To 7-2

HARROGATE, TN – On Saturday afternoon, the Lincoln Memorial University men’s soccer team manhandled visiting Brevard College by handing the Tornados a 5-0 shutout on the Les Gibbs Field.

The Railsplitters didn’t score their first goal until the 28^th minute.  Freshman Jemal Talore (Atlanta, GA) scored his first collegiate goal on a pass from senior Nelson Pizzaro (Pembroke Pines, FL) to put Lincoln Memorial on the scoreboard with a 1-0 lead.  Talore’s goal turned out to be contagious as the Railsplitters scored twice more in the next eight minutes to take a commanding 3-0 lead with the half winding down.  After assisting on the Railsplitter’s first score, Pizzaro’s goal came on a chipped pass from Leandro Pereira (Brasilia, Brazil) at 32:48 and senior Leonardo de Barros (Brasilia, Brazil) sent in a rocket from 35 yard out when he scored unassisted at the 35:00 minute mark.

Although Lincoln Memorial Head Coach Helio D’Anna began substituting in the late minutes of the first half and again at half-time, the second half was dominated by the Railsplitter offensive attack as well.  The Railsplitters needed only 2:57 into the second half to find the back of the net for the fourth time when sophomore Leandro Pereira scored his thirteenth goal of the season on a pass from Leonardo de Barros.  The goal would be LMU’s last until senior Guilherme Alves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) put the icing of the cake in the 62^nd minute when he scored unassisted for the final 5-0 margin.

From a defensive standpoint, the Railsplitter goalkeeping duo of Brent Cole (Knoxville, TN) and Patrick Riesenberg (Ft. Thomas, KY) weren’t tested that much.  Cole had one save in the first half while Riesenberg never got the opportunity to deny the Tornado offense.  Most of that credit can go to the Railsplitter back line of defense and the LMU offensive attack.  The back defenders only allowed Brevard five total shots for the game and only one of those was on goal.  In addition, the Railsplitters overwhelmed the Tornados with 36 shots, 16 of which were on goal.

The next test on the agenda for the Railsplitters will be with arch-rival Carson-Newman College next Wednesday in Jefferson City, Tennessee.  The Railsplitters are 7-2 overall and 2-0 in the South Atlantic Conference going into the match and will be facing an Eagle squad that is undefeated on the year at 7-0 with a 1-0 conference record.  The Eagles are presently ranked tenth in the country in NCAA Division II men’s soccer.  Wednesday’s match gets underway at 4:00 p.m.