GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Daniel Burko scored on a penalty kick with 18:44 left to give Lincoln Memorial University a 1-0 victory over Tusculum University Wednesday night at Pioneer Field in a South Atlantic Conference men's soccer match.
Burko earned the penalty after Tusculum keeper Nicolas Leite was sent off for denying him an obvious goal scoring opportunity, and Burko beat replacement keeper Sondre Liahagen Kolnes for his 10th goal of the season for the Railsplitters (5-1-2, 1-1-1 SAC).
Lincoln Memorial outshot Tusculum (5-3-1, 1-3-1 SAC) by a 15-7 margin, but Leite had kept the Pioneers in the match with seven saves before being shown the red card. Kolnes had one save in relief of Leite.
The Railsplitters controlled the play in the first half, outshooting the Pioneers 9-1 and having a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks. However, Leite made five saves in the opening 45 minutes for the Pioneers.
Tusculum had the first shot attempt of the match in the ninth minute, on what would be its only shot of the half, but shot from the top of the box from Gui Busato was stopped by Lincoln Memorial keeper Daniel Benedek Miklosi.
Leite had five saves in a span of 12 minutes, including three on Burko in the 13th, 18th and 31st minutes. Tusculum also benefitted from shots off the post from Burko in the 14th minute and from Ronan O'Mahony on a bicycle kick in the 31st minute.
In the second half, the Pioneers had two excellent chances as Concheso was stopped in the 47th minute by Miklosi and Cristobal Morales from 25 yards on a dive in the 53rd minute.
Leite kept up the stalemate by making saves on Colin Clark in the 67th minute and on Daniel Cruz in the 69th minute. However, it would be Burko who drew the penalty and card and scored the go-ahead goal at 71:16 for the Railsplitters.
After conceding the goal, Kolnes had his first save of the night in the 78th minute on a low skipping free kick from Botond Skulka. Miklosi made his final save of the night with 1:33 left as he collected a one-hopper from J-P Vital from 25 yards.
Miklosi finished with five saves for Lincoln Memorial, which was called for 17 fouls to 16 for Tusculum in the match.
The Pioneers will return to action in one week when Tusculum visits Anderson on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. The Trojans lost 6-0 to fifth-ranked Limestone on Wednesday night for their first conference loss of the season (1-1-1).
