CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston scored on a penalty kick in the first half and Charleston Southern was unable to respond in the annual battle for the Silver Cup as the Buccaneers fell at home to the Cougars on Friday afternoon, 1-0.

"It is a tough loss," said CSU head coach Eric Terrill. "We've been in some good games against some good teams and College of Charleston is another good team on our schedule. It was a good test for us just before we get into conference play. Even though we didn't have a positive result, there are positives to take away from it."

Jessica Schifer connected on the penalty kick goal at the 35:01 mark as her shot attempt was deflected by CSU goalkeeper Alyssa Dellacqua before finding the back of the net to give the Cougars the 1-0 lead.

The Buccaneers had the advantage in shots on goal and corner kicks in the match, but were unable to find the net in falling to 2-2-2 overall in the 2015 season.

CSU started the match off strong in the first 15 minutes as the Buccaneers had four corner kicks and five shots, but none were on target as the teams battled through a 0-0 tie early in the match. Anna Sells had a pair of early shots in the match, but both attempts were snagged by CofC goalkeeper Lauren Killian to keep the Bucs off the scoreboard.

A CSU foul in the 36th minute gave the Cougars their best scoring opportunity of the match as Schifer lined up for the penalty kick. Dellacqua guessed correctly for the Bucs on the try, but the Schifer's shot deflected off her gloves and into the back of the net to put the Cougars up 1-0.

The Buccaneers continued to press in the second half as Sells headed a shot in the direction of the net, while Grace Clark fired on target in the final five minutes, but Killian collected both shots in closing out the shutout win.

Charleston Southern opens up Big South Conference play on the road next week as the Buccaneers travel to Buies Creek, N.C. and Campbell University on Wednesday night. Kickoff between the Bucs and the Camels at the Eakes Athletics Complex is set for 7 p.m.