Hickory, NC – The Lincoln Memorial men's soccer team has defeated the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears 2-0 Thursday evening. With today's result, LMU earned its first victory over L-R since 2019.
The Railsplitters were quick to create scoring chances as Gian-Carlo Kama took a shot low and center a minute into the match, saved by the L-R keeper. The Bears followed up by taking a shot off of a corner in the 3rd minute, which gave Daniel Benefek Miklosi his first save of the afternoon, and not soon after in the 4th minute, another shot was taken. LMU continued to push offensively as Ronan O'Mahony Blondel took a shot on goal in the 9th minute, saved, followed by a Kama shot in the 13th minute, also saved. Lenoir-Rhyne took a pair of shots in the 14th minute, blocked, and the 16th minute, high. Lincoln Memorial's O'Mahony Blondel took the ball outside the box, chipped it over Lenoir-Rhyne's defensive line to Filip Jeppesen who heads the ball past the keeper and into the back of the net in the 30th minute to give Lincoln Memorial the lead 1-0. With the goal being the last scoring opportunity for either team, the two teams entered halftime with Lincoln Memorial having the advantage 1-0.
In the first half, Lincoln Memorial was outshot 4-5, but upped the Bears in shots on goal 4-1, recorded one save in the half, and didn't produce any corner opportunities.
Possession juggled for the first six minutes, until Lenoir-Rhyne created back-to-back scoring chances in the 51st and 52 minutes, with shots going high and wide, respectively. After a goal kick, the Bears gained the ball back and fired a shot in the 53rd minute, blocked. The Railsplitters' first chance at extending the lead came in the 64th minute by O'Mahony Blondel, shot high. The Bear's next shot opportunity came over ten minutes later in the 66th minute, blocked. Lenoir-Rhyne's next attempt at goal were two shots in the 73rd minute, with the first shot hitting the crossbar and the second being saved by Benedek Miklosi. Lincoln Memorial gained possession and pushed the ball into their attacking third as David McDougall registered a shot in the 76th minute, high. In the 80th minute, L-R's next shot attempt occurs, shot wide. 45 seconds later, LMU quickly got the ball to the other side of the field as Antonio Talavera took a shot on goal, saved by the goalkeeper. Just as the match was running out of time, LMU solidified the win in the 89th minute as Thomas Chao passed the ball through three defenders to Gian-Carlo Kama and he slots the ball past the rushing keeper to the back of the net to give LMU the extended lead 2-0. Lenoir-Rhyne attempts a last-minute shot as they record a shot in the 89th minute, high. With the last minute goal, LMU gets the win over Lenoir-Rhyne 2-0.
Jeppesen and Kama each scored a goal for the Railsplitters, as O'Mahony and Chao registered the assists. Kama also led in shots and shots on goal with three, and Benedek Miklosi got his first shutout of the season and earned two saves.
As a team, LMU was outshot by L-R 13-8, but had more shots on goal with six. LMU recorded one corner kick in the match.
With the win, Lincoln Memorial improves to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
Lincoln Memorial looks to gain their first win streak on Sunday, September 14th as they host the University of Alabama - Huntsville at 2 pm at LMU Lacrosse Complex.
