BLUFFTON, S.C. — The University of South Carolina Beaufort women's soccer team showed marked improvement since its season opener two days earlier but was unable to overcome two early goals by St. Xavier's Alexis Cozzi in a 2-0 loss Sunday at Fin Land Field.

The Cougars, who rallied in the second half to beat SCAD Savannah — one of the top teams in the Sun Conference — 2-1 on Friday, got off to a great start Sunday thanks to Cozzi. The freshman blasted a shot from the left side that USCB goalie Chelsie Mummert was unable to squeeze to put St. Xavier (2-0) ahead in the 12th minute, and she added a brilliant goal in the 14th minute with a header off Molly Sheehan's corner kick.

The Sand Sharks (0-2) controlled play for much of the remainder of the game, outshooting the Cougars 14-10, but they were unable to break through against Cortney Jerzy, who made seven saves to notch the shutout. 

"Apart from those first 13 or 14 minutes of the game, I thought we were evenly matched, and at parts, I thought we outplayed them," USCB coach Ed Heberling said. "We have a lot of good things to build on here. … The girls had a positive attitude and did what we asked them to do. We moved the ball well. We won a lot more balls today than we did Friday."

The Sand Sharks will try to claim their first win on the road, as their next three games are at Converse College on Saturday, at Warren Wilson College on Sept. 1 and at Columbia College on Sept. 8. 

"I thought we played a little prettier brand of soccer today," Heberling said. "It's just a matter of keeping that up and adding to it."  

USCB returns home to face Flagler at 5 p.m. on Sept. 12.