GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Paige Branam scored her second goal of the match with 4:03 remaining to give Lincoln Memorial University a wild 5-4 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women’s soccer Wednesday afternoon at a rainy Pioneer Field.
The Railsplitters (3-2-2, 2-1-0 SAC) let a 3-1 lead slip away before rallying with goals in the 60th and 86th minutes against the Pioneers (1-6-0, 1-2-0 SAC). Edie Wilds had two goals and an assist for Lincoln Memorial, while Camden Prosser assisted on both the tying and winning goals.
McKenzie Hanson led the Pioneers with a goal and two assists, with Savanna Mackie, Gabby Stone and Addison Rishling scoring in a span of 12 1/2 minutes to put the Pioneers on top 4-3 in the 56th minute. However, LMU would tie the score just under four minutes later before cashing in on the match-winner with just over four minutes to play.
It was the first time in exactly 17 years that the Pioneers played a match where both teams scored four goals or more. Coincidentally, that match was played at Lincoln Memorial on Sept. 23, 2009 with the Pioneers winning by an identical 5-4 score also on a goal in the 86th minute, with Michelle Meade delivering the winner that day.
The Railsplitters went up 1-0 at 12:16 as Ally Bevins slipped a pass through the Tusculum defense and Wilds beat Pioneer keeper Julia Olsson to the ball to collect her first goal of the season. The lead would last just over 10 minutes before Hanson took a shot from the far left side that curled over LMU keeper Arriel Frey for her second of the season to knot the match at 1-1.
Lincoln Memorial would go back up 2-1 at exactly 24 minutes when Wilds passed to Elizabeth Butler who slid a shot past a challenging Olsson for her second goal of the year. Branam netted her third of the season at 31:28 as she broke down the left side and took a shot that Olsson saved, but Branam pounced on the rebound for a 3-1 Lincoln Memorial advantage.
Just before halftime, the Pioneers cut the deficit to 3-2 as Hanson found Mackie on a run down the left side, and her high shot from a sharp angle caught Frey too far off the line and curled into the top corner for her first collegiate goal at 43:26.
The Pioneers got the equalizer at 53:03 when Hanson made a great move on the defense and made a quick pass to Stone, who had an easy finish for her third of the season and a 3-3 deadlock at 53:03. The Pioneers would take their first lead of the day at 55:51 when Tanna Bookhamer passed back to Caroline Heintzelman, whose long feed to the box went to Rishling and she beat keeper Emma Cooke for a 4-3 Tusculum advantage at 55:51.
The lead would last just 3 1/2 minutes as Prosser made a cross to Wilds for a one-timer and a 4-4 score at 59:24. With time running down, Prosser came through again as she put a cross into the middle that went behind the defense and was tapped in by Branam for the winner at 85:57.
Lincoln Memorial had a 25-14 shot advantage over Tusculum in the match, with Olsson making 10 saves for the Pioneers. Frey had three saves in the first half and Cooke made two stops in the second half for the Railsplitters, who also had a commanding 12-2 edge in corner kicks.
Tusculum will face its fourth ranked opponent of the season on Sunday, Sept. 27 when 10th-ranked Catawba visits Pioneer Field for a 2 p.m. start. The Indians (5-2-1, 2-0-1 SAC) played to a 1-1 draw at Anderson on Wednesday.
