Box Score
The Bruins had opportunities, but the Koalas of Columbia College took the homefield advantage to come away with a 2-0 victory over BJU on Tuesday night in Columbia, South Carolina.

"We had a very sluggish start against a very fast, technical and organized team," Bruins coach Chris Carmichael said. "We didn't handle their pressure well in the first half but were able to make some halftime adjustments to get things going in the second half. A great job to Coach Josh and his staff for a solid performance tonight."

The Bruins entered Tuesday's match with a 3-4 record and were coming off an impressive 6-0 conference win over Trinity Baptist College on Saturday. The Fighting Koalas were coming in strong with back to back wins over Erskine College and Thomas University. 

In the opening minutes, Columbia College came out strong with several shots on the Bruins net. Goalkeeper Kristen Haertlein stood strong with several key saves. The Koalas nearly found the back of the net in the 15 minute of play as Caitlin McDonald's shot ricochet off the crossbar to keep the score 0-0. 

Columbia College finally broke through in the 18th minute of play as Ashley Tanner received the pass from Caitlin McDonald and struck a well-placed shot past Haertlein to put the Koalas up 1-0. Less than 5 minutes later, Tanner would be involved in another goal as she assisted Ruby Hallam to put Columbia College up 2-0.

The Lady Bruins tried to claw their way back into the game as Mimi Lozano broke free and fired a shot that went just wide. Lauren Foushee had an opportunity in the 38th minute, but the shot sailed just a bit high as the Bruins ended the half trailing Columbia College 2-0. 

In the second half, the Koalas came out strong much as they did to start the contest and fired off several opening shots on net. The Bruins countered and were able to create opportunities in the attacking third. Spencer Martin had a chance in the 57th minute but her shot sailed wide. Martin tried again a few minutes later but Koala goalkeeper Kat Yahnke was up to the task to keep the Bruins scoreless. As the final buzzer sounded, Columbia College was able to hold on for a 2-0 shutout of BJU. 

"If we can play the first 45 minutes like we played the last we will be very tough to beat," Coach Carmichael said. "We had a number of great opportunities to makeup the deficit but couldn't find the back of the net. We learn from this and improve going forward."  

With the loss, the Bruins fall to 3-5 on the season while still remaining undefeated at 2-0 in conference play. Next up, the Bruins will have another road test as they travel to Reinhardt University on Saturday afternoon.