Franklin Springs, GA – The Emmanuel College (1-0) men's lacrosse team opened its 2015 campaign with a win over visiting Lincoln Memorial University (0-1) on Saturday, February 7 at the Stephen's Athletic Fields.

Junior attack Justin Mills (Roebuck, SC) paced the Lions with four goals while junior midfield transfer Darian Richardson (Duluth, GA) made an impressive debut in the Cardinal and Gold with three unassisted goals. Both Dylan Neisler and Justin Stewart led the Railsplitters as they chipped in a pair of goals for LMU.

The Lions pounced out to an early start when freshman Zach Cao (Lawrenceville, GA) assisted Mills for a goal just 20 seconds in the first quarter. LMU responded four minutes later on a Ronny Paulino goal, but the rest of the first quarter was all Lions as EC scored two unanswered goals by Hevin Jackson (Smyrna, GA) and Richardson to close the first.

The second quarter was a 1-1 draw as both team's goaltenders played big. EC senior goalie Blake Duncan (New Westminster, BC) turned away 29 scoring opportunities for LMU to led both teams in overall saves while freshman AJ Yerardi (Framingham, MA) led the Lion defenders with 6 groundballs and 4 caused turnovers.

The third period saw the Railsplitters take an early edge in momentum though as they scored two unanswered goals followed by a third consecutive goal by Stewart to give LMU their only lead of the game. That lead was short lived though as sophomore Austin Brundage (Leesburg, VA) scored on an extra man opportunity just :35 seconds later to tie the game back up.

From there, it was all Lions as Emmanuel scored five of the next seven goals to seal the 10-7 victory with junior midfielder Michael Campbell (High Point, NC) scoring the ultimate game-winning goal at the 11:31 mark in the fourth quarter.

The Lions are back in action this Saturday, February 14 as they travel to Brevard College with another match up against a SAC opponent.