MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston women's soccer team pulled out a 1-0 victory over Winthrop at Patriots Point on Sunday afternoon.

CofC improves to 2-1-0 with the win. Winthrop loses their second consecutively and falls to 1-2-0 on the year.

Maryam Buazza (Katy, Texas) found the goal for the Cougars in the fourth minute and CofC held on the rest of the way to ensure the win.

"I'm really happy with how we came out today," said head coach Christian Michner. "The first five minutes are extremely important for us to gain control and we did that well today.

"We created a ton of chances pushing forward but we have got to do a better job of capitalizing on these opportunities."

After the Eagles opened the match with an early push into the Cougars' defensive third, the Cougars pushed back and earned a throw-in deep in the opposite end. McCallie Jones (Charlotte, N.C.), with an acrobatic, flipping-cartwheel throw, forced the ball into the middle of the box where Buazza got to it and headed the ball off the crossbar and into the net.

The Cougars were the more possessive team for the remainder of the opening period and took the 1-0 lead into the locker room after outshooting the Eagles, 9-6, in the first half.

The Cougars stayed on the throttle in the early minutes of the second period and took six shots in the first 15 minutes of the period, requiring Sarah Schippers to make a couple big-time saves to keep Winthrop in the game.

CofC nearly iced the game with roughly 10 minutes remaining when Hope Atkinson (Rumson, N.J.) sprung free with space towards goal. She slipped a late pass in to Allison Brashear (Brunswick, Ga.) who was flanking on the right side. Brashear beat the keeper to the near post but the shot rattled off the intersection of the post and crossbar and harmlessly aside.

The insurance goal would ultimately be unnecessary, however, as the Cougars weathered the Eagles' attacks in the dying minutes to earn the win.

The Cougars outshot Winthrop, 21-12, in the match and put ten shots on goal.

Cricket Wise (Walhalla, S.C.) went the distance between the pipes and made six saves to earn her first shutout of the season. Katie Kerr (Cincinnati, Ohio), Hannah Gmerek (Anderson, S.C.) and Anna Helm (Sunshine, La.) all offered a full 90 minutes for Michner.

The Cougars take to the road next weekend for competition in the University of South Florida Tournament in Tampa, Fla., over the weekend of Friday, Sept. 9. The Cougars challenge Murray State on Friday, Sept. 9 at 2 p.m. and Vanderbilt on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 12 p.m.

"It should be a good weekend for our team," said Michner. "We have two quality opponents in Murray State and Vanderbilt. Anytime you're away from home for an extended period of time you have to work on maintaining your focus the entire time. If we play the caliber of soccer we're capable of then we should get good results down there."