Pellissippi State Fights to Bitter End Against #18 LMU

Knoxville, TN - The Panthers roared out in front of the Railsplitters on Tuesday night, taking a 2-0 lead into the 80th minute. The #18 NCAA DII Railsplitters wouldn't go down without a fight, and stormed back to score three goals in the next seven minutes to take the 3-2 lead and eventually nab the victory from the Panthers. 

"We had an impressive first half, and with a 2-0 lead we should have managed the game better and controlled the tempo. However, we lost discipline and it fell to pieces" Said Panthers Head Man Josh Scott. "Tonight's game needed the guys coming off the bench to make a seamless transition but unfortunately when we subbed, we lost our shape and our mentality in the game took a shift"

A game that was chippy from the beginning, both teams got her shots in on each other. In the 25th minute, Pellissippi State was awarded a PK and Felipe Coehlo snuck it in to give the Panthers the 1-0 lead. There would eventually be two yellow cards against each team in the match. 

Mario Rivera knocked in what is surely to be one of the most impressive goals of the season in the 72nd minute from outside the box in the right half of the field into the bottom left of the net. LMU would be awarded a PK in the 80th minute to start off their scoring streak, and then would go on to pound in two more, one in the 85th and 87th minutes to seal their 3-2 lead. The boys didn't let the onslaught of goals from LMU deter their efforts, as they remained aggressive all the way till the horn sounded in the 90th minute. A great game came to a 3-2 close. 

"Moving forward we need to understand that if we want to play at the highest levels of college soccer, our discipline, maturity and ability to manage the game are major focus points - we also need to do a better job as a staff to recognize our limitations sooner so we can do a better job protecting the lead. The result tonight is unfortunate, but we will take ownership of the outcome and look at how we can improve"

The Panthers are set to travel to Williamsburg Kentucky this Friday to face off against the University of The Cumberlands at 7:00 PM. The Patriots and Panthers previously faced off this season on September 21st which resulted in a 3-1 Panthers victory.

The Lad's last home mach will be on Monday the 30th at 7:00 PM against Johnson University.