BANNER ELK, N.C. --- Senior James Abraham and freshman Pol Vassart registered goals, but the Lees-McRae men's soccer team fell in an entertaining contest to Lincoln Memorial, 3-2, on a chilly Saturday afternoon in Banner Elk, N.C.
The Railsplitters (3-1) were powered by Leonardo Da Silva, who produced a match-high five shots and scored a goal. The Bobcats (2-2) had a quartet of player's notch two shots or more.
The match saw 19 second half shots, compared to 11 in the opening frame. LMC and its opposition has combined for zero goals in the first half over the last two matches, but 10 in the second half.
Sophomore Tyler Pavlet (Goodyear, Ariz.) kept the contest tied at zero with three incredible saves within a 30-second span from the 38:55-39:25 mark. Pavlet amassed all of his four saves in the first half.
LMU's Da Silva broke a scoreless tie in the 55th minute when his free kick dinged the post and redirected into the back of the net.
The match would turn into a slugfest when the squads combined for four goals in a span of 9:48.
Vassart (Arnhem, France) tallied his second goal of the season after Marvyn Rieger (Frankfurt, Germany) headed a ball his direction following a Matthew Cureton (Waxhaw, N.C.) free kick.
The Railsplitters' Danilo da Silva took a pass from Nick Spielman and was able to blast it from 23 yards out.
Abraham (Maidstone, England) produced the equalizer at the 77:08 mark when Maurice Kleinert (Hannover, Germany) found him in the box following a Thomas Deeley (Timaru, New Zealand) corner kick.
With 10:08 remaining, LMU's Philip Wong notched the decisive goal with a shot from 22 yards out while George Burne earned the assist.
Both teams combined for five yellow cards, 29 fouls and 30 shots.
Coach Rich Wall's squad returns to action Saturday, Sep. 19 when it opens Conference Carolinas play against Southern Wesleyan at 5 p.m. at Tate Field.
- LMC -
