Box Score WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) women's soccer team opened the 2016 regular season with a hard-fought 2-1 non-conference road loss to the Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) Sailfish in the PBA Kickoff Classic at the Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Athletic Campus.

The Sailfish (1-0) broke onto the scoreboard first in the 26th minute when a series of quick tap passes was finished off when Morgan Campbell found Monica Rojas open for a successful one-on-one breakaway opportunity that found the left side of the goal.

Spring Hill tied the game at 1-1 with 20 seconds to go in the first half when sophomore forward Gabrielle Burmaster from Harvey, La., ripped the ball through the fingertips of the diving Sailfish goalkeeper.

Rojas gave PBA a 2-1 advantage in the 79th minute off an entry from Claire Allen as the Badger defense finally cracked under a barrage of Sailfish shots.

Freshman Kayla Beaston (0-1) picked up five saves versus 23 shots in her first collegiate regular season start while Sailfish keeper Alexis Sanquist (1-0) earned four saves against nine Badger shots. PBA took six corner kicks while the Badgers had two attempts from the angles. Both teams played a tough physical game, but maintained their poise with SHC recording 11 fouls to eight for the Sailfish, but the official found no cause issue a warning card to either side.

After the match Badger head coach Allison Whitworth praised her team. "I'm very proud of the fight in this team," she said. "As we continue to be more experienced in our style and disciplined in defending we will get results. We had some great leadership from our key players, captains and seniors that will continue to fuel this team."

The Badgers (0-1) will continue play in the PBA Kickoff Classic on Saturday at 3 p.m. (EST) with a non-conference match versus the Malone University Pioneers (0-1) who lost 3-0 to Pace University (1-0) in Thursday's opening contest.