Lady Railsplitter Veterans Should Be Key Throughout 2010 Season
September 3, 2010
HARROGATE, TN - For the past two years, the Lady Railsplitter soccer team has been comprised primarily of freshmen and sophomores. This year however, those talented players have matured into veteran oriented groups of juniors and seniors that are looking to lead by example throughout the entire 2010 season.
In Thursday's season-opener against Young Harris College, junior Leanne Reid (Aberdeen, Scotland) showed LMU fans exactly why she has been selected as Preseason All-South Atlantic Conference First Team selection by notching the first two goals of the year. Both goals came inside the first twenty minutes of the match, allowing the LMU women to not only take the upper hand, but to dictate how they would play the game.
A minute into the second half, senior forward and former All-South Atlantic Conference selection Becky Thompson (Frederick, MD) gave the Lady Railsplitters another boost when she hit the back of the net to put LMU on top 3-0. Less than two minutes later, junior midfielder Sarah Taylor (Ajax Ontario, Canada) broke the Mountain Lions back, adding a fourth goal before the Lady Railsplitters eventually came away with a 4-0 win.
Statistically speaking, these three young ladies had tallied the most total points on the squad by the end of the 2009 season and ranked as three of the top four goal scorers. Add to this trio the offensive abilities of junior midfielder Samantha Meek (Tampa, FL) and junior midfielder Jessica Meyer (Orlando, FL), and the Lady Railsplitters have possibly the most experienced returning scoring attack in the South Atlantic Conference. Combined, these five individuals accounted for 32-of-37 goals scored last season and 13-of-19 assists recorded in 2009.
The Lady Railsplitters have nine seniors on this year's squad and seven juniors on a team that only carries 24 total players. If that experience proves to be as valuable as the heart and effort these individuals put into each match, the end result should be an appearance in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament title match later this year, and possibly their first trip to the NCAA Regional Tournament since 2007.
The Lady Railsplitters hope to continue their winning ways this Sunday when they play host to the Chargers from the University of Alabama-Huntsville. UAH, a former Gulf South Conference rival, will take the field against the Lincoln Memorial University women at 1:30 p.m. on the LMU soccer field.
