Greenwood, SC - The Lincoln Memorial field hockey team began its season on the road against the Lander Bearcats in a conference match up Thursday evening. The Railsplitters were seeking only the second overall win in their young history following the establishment of the program in 2021. Lincoln Memorial had played Lander four previous times before Thursday's match up, falling in each contest, remaining outscored 23-0 in the series history. However, Thursday's match up had a completely different feel.
The first quarter of the game saw neither team give any ground. The Bearcats squeezed off four shots in the period with Railsplitter goalkeeper Ana Carney letting nothing by her. However, in the second quarter, Lander dealt the first blow of the game, and the season, taking a 1-0 lead on a goal from Puck Hoenderdos, assisted by Lauren Punt, with 4:42 remaining in the quarter. Following a defensive stalemate in the third quarter, the score remained locked at 1-0 until late in the game. With just under 10 minutes remaining, Katherine Brislin scored the team's first goal of the season, assisted by Anella Rossi. It was the first goal the Railsplitters had ever scored on the Bearcats, tying the game at 1-1. Merely four minutes later, Lander managed to regain the lead, 2-1, on a goal from Punt, assisted by Iris Van Der Does.
With only five minutes remaining in the game, the Railsplitters failed to lay over, continuing to fight until the final horn. However, the Bearcats held on, managing a 2-1 win. It was the least amount of points scored by Lander in the series, and the most points Lincoln Memorial had scored in the series, showing incredible improvement on both offense and defense. With the loss, the Railsplitters move to 0-1 (0-1) on the season.
Lincoln Memorial will quickly put this game in the rear view mirror and look ahead to Friday's match up with conference foe Converse in Spartanburg, SC at 6:00 PM.
