The Lady Bruins showed strong possession throughout their opening preseason match, but two costly defensive lapses hurt the Bruins as they fell 2-0 on the road at Southern Wesleyan University on Thursday night. The two teams played three 30-minute periods at Childs Field in Central, South Carolina.

"I thought we played well overall but the nature of preseason matches is to give players more opportunities to play in game situations," Coach Chris Carmichael said. "We were able to experiment with some player combinations and figure out ways to enhance our system of play."

In the opening stages of the match, the Bruins came out strong and possessed the ball very well in the opening minutes with crisp passing. The team was able to use their combination play to work up the field and generated several great opportunities to score. Just before the half ended, a defensive lapse allowed the Warriors to capitalize as the shot slid into the net to give Southern Wesleyan a 1-0 lead at the end of the opening 30-minute period. 

"Our possession was effective in producing several quality shots on goal," Coach Carmichael said. "In the end we couldn't find the back of the net but those goals will come." 

In the second period, the Bruins had another costly mistake as another defensive mistake allowed the Warriors to score making the score 2-0. With the lead, the Warriors defense solidified as the Bruins tried to find a way to get on the board. Throughout the remainder of the second and third period, the Bruins chances didn't find their way in the back of the net as the Warriors held on for the 2-0 victory. 

"I am very excited to see this team progress and this was a great start," Coach Carmichael said. "Southern Wesleyan is much improved and my hats off to their coaching staff for providing great competition."  

The Lady Bruins will play their final preseason match on Tuesday night at home as they welcome Anderson University at Alumni Stadium in Greenville, South Carolina.