RICHMOND, Va. – The Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team continued its season-opening six-match road trip on Friday afternoon, as the Chanticleers fell to the No. 17 nationally-ranked Richmond Spiders 12-4 in Richmond, Va.
 
The loss puts the Chants at 2-2 to start the season, while the Spiders remain unbeaten at 5-0 with the win.
 
Coastal had three different players find the back of the net on Friday, as midfielder Hannah Close notched two goals on four shot attempts, while Avery Snyder and Kayla Downey tallied one goal each for the match. Close also won a team-high two drawl controls, as Richmond won 16 draws compared to the Chants' four.
 
CCU's Avery Whitehead led the team in ground balls with three, while defenders Marissa Munson and Jordan Gertz forced three and two turnovers each, respectively.
 
Reigning ASUN Defensive Player of the Week Claire Martell faced a barrage of shots all game long, making 13 saves on 38 shots over the 60-minute match. Richmond outshot the Chanticleers 38-14 overall and put 25 shots on goal compared to CCU's 15.
 
For the undefeated Spiders, five different players scored led by a game-high four goals from Lindsay Frank and a hat-trick by Colleen Quinn. The duo had one assist each in the win as well.
 
Richmond goalie Delaney Galvin earned the win, as she made 11 saves in goal.
 
Coastal jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, as Close (10:48) and Downey (9:34) scored right out of the gates to put the visitors in front early of the nationally-ranked team.
 
However, the Spiders would close out the opening quarter with three unanswered goals, the first two coming in less than 30 seconds of each other, to put the home team in front 3-2 after the first 15 minutes of play.
 
After Richmond's Quinn started the second quarter with a goal to put Richmond up 4-2, the Chanticleers answered with back-to-back goals on a man-up goal from Snyder at the 8:37 mark followed by Close's second goal of the match on an assist from Monica Manley to tie the match up at 4-4 with 5:19 to go in the first half.
 
Less than a minute later, Richmond's Sophia DiCenso converted her second goal of the game at the 4:34 mark of the second quarter to give the Spiders a 5-4 lead at the halftime break.
 
Out of the halftime break, the momentum swayed to the Spiders as Richmond outshot Coastal 14-5 for the third quarter, including placing seven shots on frame compared to the Chants' two, yet Coastal gave up just one score to fall behind 6-4 heading into the final quarter of play.
 
That would be as close as the Chanticleers would get for the remainder of the match, as the Spiders tallied six goals in the fourth quarter, three from Frank, two more from Quinn, and the final goal by Arden Tierney to pull away for the 12-4 win.
 
The Chanticleers will return to the road and Richmond for a non-conference showdown with VCU on Wednesday, March 9. The opening draw is set for noon ET.

For complete coverage of CCU women's lacrosse, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalWLax (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.