CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team has transitioned to the New Year and looks to improve upon the program's first postseason appearance as spring practice continues and the 2015 season draws near.

The Chanticleers, who finished last season with a 5-12 (3-4) record and were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Big South Conference Championship after falling to Winthrop, 14-8, have a lot to look forward to in just the school's third season as a Division I women's lacrosse program.

"The emphasis for the first few weeks of preseason is always fitness, stick work and recapping what we accomplished in the fall," said head coach Jaime Sellers, who is entering her third season with the program. "We have a set schedule laid out for what we want to implement each week and this allows us to build upon concepts as we progress. The team has come in with a competitive mindset and attitude thus far and they are continuing to push each other in practice and conditioning. They are consistently holding each other accountable, which is a testament to being another year older."

With more age and experience come higher expectations, and Sellers and the 2015 team will strive to continue to develop and mature with each game this season.

"The biggest difference between this team and last year's team is our experience and our leadership," Sellers explained. "As a new program in our first year, I made the decision to bring in a large class of freshmen as opposed to bringing in a significant number of transfers and two-year players. I knew this would mean two seasons of youth in our starting line up, but I also knew it would eventually equate to stellar leadership and game experience in seasons three and four. This year, we are older and wiser and I expect that to play a big role in our performance this season."

The Chants return 24 players from last year's roster, including 10 players who started in double-digit games a season ago.

Defensively, Coastal will continue to achieve in the 2015 season behind the leadership and experience of Maddy Ciardi, Nyra Constant and Kaitlyn Trodden, who have combined to make 93 starts over the last two years. The 2014 Chanticleers boasted one of the conference's best defenses, finishing the season ranked third in the league in both caused turnovers per game and goals against average, while finishing fourth and 32nd nationally in ground balls per game and draw controls per game, respectively.

Ciardi was named a member of the All-Big South Second Team in each of the last two seasons. Furthermore, Trodden and Constant ranked second and fourth on last year's team with 17 and 14 caused turnovers, respectively, while also ranking third and fifth with 26 and 23 ground balls, respectively.

According to Sellers, former walk-on Karley Barreno, who was primarily used as a utility player last season, has made a quick and effective transition to the defense and is another one to watch on that side of the field.

"Since the program's inception we have played impressive defense for a young team. Because of this, we have had a tendency to rely on our defense to win games," Sellers said. "With that being said, the emphasis for us this year has been stepping up our offensive game and fostering a tenacious mentality for our attacking unit. We are aiming for even play in our statistics and that has meant holding our offensive players accountable both in practice and outside of practice with their individual skills."

Nonetheless, with the crop of offensive talent returning from last year's squad, Sellers and her coaching staff expect the offensive production to become more consistent this season. The Chants return all five of 2014's top scorers including Keri White (23 goals, 18 assists, 41 points), Sara Nolan (28 goals, eight assists, 36 points), Alicia Geiter (27 goals, two assists, 29 points), Charlotte O'Leary (22 goals, seven assists, 29 points) and Lily Yednock (15 goals, eight assists, 23 points). White's 41 points and 18 assists and Nolan's 28 goals were all single-season records while Geiter set the single-single freshman scoring mark with 27 goals.

Also expected to play a large role in 2015 is senior attacker Jen Cosgrove, who transferred from Jacksonville University prior to last season but appeared in only five games after missing the majority of the season with an injury.

"It's been fun to see her back and healthy and growing with the offensive unit," Sellers said of Cosgrove. "She offers a sense of wisdom and perspective for the younger players with her experience."

Those most dependent on that sense of senior leadership are the six newcomers who round out this year's roster including Taylor Pascale, Shannon Mansberger, Courtney Genovese, Gabby Vujanic, Haley Kyger and Sophie Crowther.

With a healthy blend of youth, skill and experience, Sellers doesn't see why the third-year program shouldn't continue to make strides this season.

"Our goal is to get better every year, and we had a handful of games that were tight losses for us last year," she said. "My expectation is to turn those one and two-goal losses into one or two-goal wins, and to finish in the top four of our conference. It's absolutely doable for our program. However, I'm also the type of coach that likes to see pre-season play out before jumping into goal-setting and expectations. We have to give our players the time to develop individually and collectively, and to create chemistry on the field. I will always have high expectations for our program, but I have really learned the value in remaining patient throughout the course of the season to allow for growth. It is a long season and championships aren't won in January."

Coastal will continue its spring practice for the next couple of weeks before making a trip to Charlotte, N.C. to face Queens University in a play day scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 1. The Chants then officially begin the new season on Saturday, Feb. 14 with a trip to Stetson University in DeLand, Fla., and kick off their home schedule as they host Virginia Tech on Sunday, Feb. 22 at the CCU Soccer Stadium.

For the Chanticleers' complete 2015 schedule, click here.