HARROGATE, Tenn. — Despite striking first with a goal from Savannah Pitt in the 30th minute, the Lady Railsplitters fell to the Tusculum College Pioneers by a margin of 3-2 in South Atlantic Conference women’s soccer action Wednesday. The loss drops LMU to 5-5-1 on the season and 2-3-1 in league play, while the win propels the Pioneers to 5-0-1 in the SAC and 10-1-2 overall.

Pitt, a sophomore from Gallatin, Tenn., tallied her third goal of the season at the 30:22 mark to put the Lady Railsplitters out to a 1-0 lead in the first half. Pitt’s goal came off a cross by Josefin Hedstrom into the front of the net, with Pitt coming out of the ensuing scrum with a score.

The Lady Railsplitters would retain a 1-0 advantage as the first 45 minutes came to a close, however, the Pioneers answered with three-consecutive goals in the second half to take command of the match.

Jana Linke knotted the contest at one apiece with her fifth goal of the season at the 61:00 mark. Linke received a corner kick from Amy Morford and beat the LMU keeper to tie the game.

With the game holding at a 1-1 stalemate, Tusculum notched two goals in the 81st minute to take a 3-1 lead. An own goal at the 81:11 mark put the Pioneers on top, 2-1, and a header from Allison Thomas off of a free kick from Alisha Pugh at the 81:54 mark extended that lead to 3-1.

The Lady Railsplitters tallied two shots down the stretch, breaking through with a goal by freshman Madison Rivard (Roanoke, Texas) at the 88:30 mark to cut the deficit to 3-2. LMU was unable to record another shot in the final minute of play as they suffered a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Pioneers.

The Pioneers recorded 15 shots in the match with eight coming on goal, while the Lady Railsplitters fired eight shots with five attempts at goal. Tusculum tallied five corner kicks to four for LMU.

Freshman Kayla Stephens (Keller, Texas) played all 90 minutes in goal and recorded five stops for the Lady Railsplitters. Marissa Williams also compiled 90 minutes in goal with three saves in the affair.

The Lady Railsplitters host Brevard for a SAC battle with the Tornados on Saturday. That match is scheduled to tip at 1 p.m.