MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Chris Cushing scored his first goal in a College of Charleston uniform, and freshman Peter Thomas tacked on an insurance tally after intermission to power the Cougars to a 2-0 win over Coastal Carolina on Tuesday at Ralph Lundy Field.

The win keeps the Cougars (2-0-2) undefeated through four games for the first time since starting the 2009 season with five straight victories. 

Cushing broke the ice on the scoring in the 37th minute when he took a long feed from Ethan Garvey and dribbled through the Chanticleer (2-2) defense before his shot grazed off the crossbar and over the goal line. Cushing is a transfer from Winthrop who scored one goal in two seasons as an Eagle.

Thomas took over the team lead with his second goal of the season with 10 minutes expired in the second half. He hit the right post with a shot, but the Cougars were able to maintain possession. Chris Matlashewski then gave Thomas a second chance and he converted to make it a 2-0 game.

The assist was Matlashewski's first of the season after ranking second on the team with four a year ago. 

The Cougar defense was solid most of the night, allowing only five shots over the first 81 minutes before Coastal took four down the stretch. But Olly Marshall was equal to the task, stopping two of the attempts and recording a total of six saves in the match while posting his fifth career clean sheet.

"This was a good performance by our guys tonight," said head coach Keith Wiggans. "I thought we had a solid 70 minutes, but we need to be able to close out games better. I am very pleased to get our first shutout of the season. We will recover and look to prepare for a very tough game against Northeastern."

Charleston takes a 1-0 record in CAA play into Saturday's date with the Huskies in Boston. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.