BALTIMORE, Md. – The Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team fell 16-8 to the nationally-ranked No. 22 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays in Baltimore, Md., on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, the Chanticleers dropped to 5-7 on the year, while the Blue Jays improved to 8-6 with their second consecutive win.
 
Coastal's offense was led by Avery McIlwaine, who finished with four goals and one assist for five points, as Megan Bozzi added a pair of late scores trying to spark a CCU rally. Lauren Cremen and Hannah Demis each chipped in with one goal. Johns Hopkins saw a trio of players record hat-tricks as Maeve Barker, Shelby Harrison, and Jordan Carr each tallied three goals. The Blue Jays also got scores from Georgie Gorelick and Abbey Hurlbrink each recorded two goals, while Georgia Esmond, Carly Steinlauf, and Ashley Mackin found the back of the net once each.
 
Despite giving up 16 goals, Coastal's goalkeeper Claire Martell made 11 saves while facing 38 shots with 27 being on frame. The Blue Jays saw a pair of goalkeepers see action and made a combined seven saves while seeing 25 shots with 15 being on goal.
 
Coastal opened the scoring as McIlwaine wove through the JHU defense to put the Chants up 1-0 with 12:31 remaining in the opening stanza. However, the host Blue Jays closed the first quarter with a 3-0 run to go up 3-1 after the first 15 minutes of action.
 
JHU began the second quarter with a three-goal burst to go up 6-1 before CCU's Demis stopped the bleeding with a free position goal with 5:13 remaining until halftime to cut the score 6-2. The Blue Jays pushed the advantage back to five at 7-2 on a free position score with eight seconds remaining until the intermission.
 
Johns Hopkins midfielder Hurlbrink opened the third quarter with a pair of goals with just 1:28 expiring from the game clock. Coastal's leading goal scorer on the year, Cremen recorded her lone tally of the day off the assist from Sydney Tornetta with 13:03 remaining in the third period to cut the lead to 9-3. JHU closed the third quarter on a 5-2 run to go up 14-5 as Carr and Barker both found the back of the net twice while Gorelick's tally was sandwiched by a pair of McIlwaine goals.
 
The Blue Jays began the final quarter with a pair of goals from Mackin and Steinlauf for the final scores for the home team. Coastal's offense tried to spark a late rally as the final three goals of the game came in the final five minutes. CCU's Bozzi hit back-to-back goals with 4:25 and 1:14 left to play before McIlwaine closed out the scoring on the day with 1:05 on the game clock for the final tally of 16-8.
 
Johns Hopkins got its offense started early as the Blue Jays won 19 draw controls compared to nine for the Chants. The Blue Jays were able to scoop up 19 ground balls to Coastal's 10, with both teams getting 15 clears on the day.
 
Coastal will return to action against the Virginia Tech Hokies on Wednesday, April 13, in Brooks Stadium on the campus of Coastal Carolina University. The opening draw is scheduled for 3 p.m. 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.