The improvement from year one to year two has been apparent in the early season for the University of South Carolina Beaufort women's soccer team, but the one area the Sand Sharks had struggled with was finishing scoring chances, especially at home, where USCB was shut out in its first three games.

That changed Friday at Fin Land Field, as DeAngelus Anderson and Jessica Tooley each scored their first goal of the season and Chelsie Mummert made 12 saves to lift the Sand Sharks to a 2-1 victory over Emmanuel College. 

USCB coach Ed Heberling was not pleased with his team's effort in a 4-0 loss to Flagler College on Wednesday, but the Sand Sharks quickly put the loss behind them and played with much better energy and discipline from kickoff Friday. 

"This was a great rebound game for us," Heberling said. "We came out and really controlled the game from the start. We still have some things to work on, but we played a pretty good team tonight, and we definitely played well enough to win."

The Sand Sharks (3-4) finally capitalized on a chance in the 41st minute, when Kathleen Kent sent a long ball from midfield that Anderson was able to run down to produce a one-on-one chance. She easily beat the goalie to give USCB it's first goal in four home games.

The Lions (4-3) evened it at 1 in the 59th minute, when Mummert was unable to corral a ball near the edge of the goalie box, and Lauren Cunningham scored on an empty goal.

USCB kept up its aggressive attack, though, and regained the lead just four minutes later. Meleah Powers threaded a beautiful ball up the right side for Stephanie Moldenhauer, who sent a cross into the box for Tooley. The freshman from Tega Cay, S.C., finished the play by tucking a shot inside the right post for the game-winner. 

"We worked this week on making runs and getting a little better organization with our attack," Heberling said. "I thought that showed tonight. We made some good runs and generated a lot more chances, and we were able to finish a couple." 

USCB's six goals this season already have surpassed last season's total of five, and the Sand Sharks have tripled their win total from a year ago. They will try to even their record at 4-4 when they host Florida Christian College at 1 p.m. Monday.