CHARLESTON, S.C. - Appalachian State University men's soccer went down early and could not recover as Southern Conference opponent College of Charleston blanked the Mountaineers 3-0 Saturday night at Patriots Point.

With the loss, the Apps drop to 4-6-1 overall and 0-2 in conference play, while the Cougars improve to 5-7 on the year and 1-1 in the SoCon.

CofC struck early in the 15^th minute when Troy Peterson sent a cross into the box and found senior Sean de Silva where the forward headed in the six-yard shot past Appalachian goalkeeper Danny Free.

The teams could not find a lot of offense for the remaining 30 minutes of the half as App State senior Nate Latigue recorded the only shot on goal after de Silva broke the 0-0 deadlock. At halftime, CofC outshot the Mountaineers 8-7.

The Cougars got an insurance goal early in the second half, as de Silva found Luke Huggett at the top of the box. Huggett fired a shot past Free for his second goal of the season, increasing the Charleston lead.

App State's offense never got on track as CofC goalkeeper, Kees Heemskerk, tallied just one save for the second half, The Cougars added an 89^th minute goal by de Silva to clinch the 3-0 conference victory.

Latigue and sophomore forward Stanley Broaden were the only Mountaineer attackers to trouble Heemskerk on the night. The Apps fired 14 shots, but just two shots on goal. In goal, Free stopped four Charleston shots.

The Mountaineers return home after being away from the High Country for over a month on Tuesday, Oct. 9 when they host Georgia Southern. Kickoff from the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex is set for 6 p.m.