Explosive First Half Lifts Railsplitters To 3-0 Victory Over Mars Hill College
October 28, 2008
HARROGATE, TN - Back-to-back goals in the 24th minute of the match and another one just before the end of the first half were enough for the Railsplitters to seal the fate of the Mars Hill men's soccer team on a cold blustery late October afternoon in Harrogate, Tennessee on Tuesday.
LMU's 3-0 win over the Lions positions the Railsplitters to play for one of the top four spots in the South Atlantic Conference regular season race, which will come to a conclusion on Saturday when LMU hosts Wingate University. The regular season came to a close for the Lions who fell to 4-4 in league play after Tuesday afternoon's loss to the Railsplitters. The MHC men end the regular season at 10-8 overall and 4-4 in the South Atlantic Conference and will be assured of at least the no. 5 seed in the first round of the upcoming conference tournament.
The Railsplitters' first goal of the match came when junior Renato Segalla (Santo Andre, Brazil) sent a blast from 40 yards out that flew over the outstretched hands MHC goalkeeper Sean Merfeld and into the back of the net to put LMU on top 1-0. Less than a minute later, teammate Willian Moura (Newtown, CT) floated one into the upper half of the net to shock the Lions again and put the LMU men on top with a commanding 2-0 advantage.
Lincoln Memorial University's final goal of the match came just before the half at 40:22 when Railsplitter senior Ian Richardson (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) received a pass from countryman Gavin MacLeod (Glasgow, Scotland) and chipped it over the keepers head for the final 3-0 margin.
Now 10-5-2 on the year and 5-2 in South Atlantic Conference play, the Railsplitters need to finish the regular season with a win on Saturday when they host conference opponent Wingate University. If the LMU men can win the match against the Bulldogs, they could possibly sneak into the no. 3 seed position of the conference tournament depending on what happens elsewhere in the conference this weekend. Saturday's match with Wingate will be senior day for the Railsplitters and gets underway at 3:30 p.m.
