Chris Nash scored with 5:52 left in the second half to give Lincoln Memorial University a 1-0 victory over Tusculum College in a tightly-contested South Atlantic Conference men's soccer match Wednesday night at Pioneer Field.

Nash went high and flicked home a crossing pass from the right side by Aaron McKenna to break the 0-0 tie and give the Railsplitters (9-3-1, 5-1 SAC) the victory over the Pioneers (2-9-3, 1-6 SAC), who hit the post twice and the crossbar once prior to Nash's game-winning goal.

Tusculum had the game's first scoring opportunity in the 10th minute, when Javier Portillo split the defense and went one-on-one with LMU keeper Michael Watkins. Portillo's shot beat Watkins to the far side but clanged off the post to keep the game scoreless. With just 39 seconds left in the half, a direct kick by Andres Jarquin went square off the crossbar as the teams headed to the locker room deadlocked.

Nash nearly put LMU on the board four minutes into the second half, but Pioneer keeper Andy Goellner made a point-blank save from 10 yards out to preserve the tie. In the 67th minute, it was Tusculum's Dean Hopewell who saw his long shot carom off the far post but stay out, and the Railsplitters' Fernando Silveira was denied in the 75th minute as his chip shot past a challenging Goellner dribbled past the near post.

After Nash's goal, the Pioneers had their final threat in the 87th minute as a short shot by Petr Buzyan cleared Watkins, but was headed away by LMU defender Callum Home to preserve the clean sheet for the Railsplitters.

Lincoln Memorial finished with an 18-12 edge in shots, while both teams took four corner kicks. Goellner finished with five saves in goal for the Pioneers, while Watkins tallied four stops for the Railsplitters.

Tusculum is back on the pitch Saturday evening at Catawba beginning at 7 p.m., following the Women's game between the two schools which starts at 4:30 p.m.