CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team dropped its second straight ASUN Conference match at home on Saturday, falling 18-11 to the Liberty Flames in Conway, S.C. With the loss, the Chanticleers dropped to 5-9 on the year and 1-2 in conference play, while the Flames improved to 9-6 overall and 3-0 in ASUN play.
 
Coastal Carolina was led by Abi George and Lauren Cremen each recording a hat-trick with three goals, while Megan Bozzi, Avery McIlwaine, Kayla Downey, Monica Manley, and Hannah Demis tallied one goal each. Liberty's Brooke Bryan and Mackenzie Lehman scored four and three times, respectively, while Jordan Baerga, Olivia Glaze, Cami Merkel, Jordan Sheive, and Tori Banks all found the back of the net twice.
 
Defensively, Coastal's Claire Martell stopped nine shots. McIlwaine, Christina Bellissimo, and Avery Whitehead each caused three turnovers, while Martell, Bellissimo, and McIlwaine each scooped up three ground balls. Liberty's Jennifer Soriero also had nine saves and also caused two turnovers and grabed five ground balls from her goalie position.
 
The Flames jumped out to the early lead as Mia Toscano scored on a free position goal with 13:20 left in the opening period, which was followed by the visitor's Glaze pushing the lead to 2-0 with just 1:09 expiring from the game clock.
 
CCU answered as Cremen recorded her first goal of the day to cut the LU lead in half at 2-1 off the assist from Demis with 8:25 left in the first quarter. After Demis found her teammate Manley in front of the net to even the score at 2-2 with 7:06 remaining on the clock, Liberty needed just 17 seconds to regain the lead as Merkel put the Flames up 3-2. Coastal's Downey tied it up at 3-3 with 5:44 remaining in the opening period with her lone tally of the day. However, the Flames fired off two quick goals for the 5-3 advantage before the Chants answered on McIlwaine's 19th goal of the season as CCU trailed 5-4 at the end of the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter, Liberty tallied four unanswered goals to take a 9-4 lead before Coastal's Cremen notched her second goal of the day to stop the LU run off an assist from Bozzi with 5:44 remaining in the first half action. Coastal cut the lead to three at 9-6 as George beat the defense on a free position goal with 4:23 left until the intermission before Liberty closed out the first-half scoring on a Bryan goal with just under three minutes left before halftime.
 
The Chanticleers won the third quarter, as Bozzi picked up her second assist of the day by finding George just to the right of the net to cut the lead to 10-7 with 13:23 on the game clock. With just under five minutes expiring from the game clock, Coastal's Demis cut the deficit to two at 10-8 for her eighth goal of the year off the assist by Sydney Tornetta. The Chants cut the lead to one at 10-9 with 6:36 left in the third quarter as Cremen recorded her 25th goal of the season by a free position goal. Liberty pushed the lead to 11-9 as Banks filled the net up with a free position goal for the visitors. Coastal cut the lead back to one at 11-10 as Bozzi drove through the Flames' defense for the slight opening in front of the net for her 16th goal of the year. However, LU's Banks pushed the lead back to two at 12-10 with her final score of the day.
 
With the game tightening up, the Flames began the final period with three quick goals as Bryan (14:09), Lehman (13:09), and Sheive increased the lead to 15-10 with 12:58 left to play in regulation. CCU cut the momentum briefly as George filled the back of the net for her third goal of the day and 15th of the season for the Chants' final tally to make the score 15-11 for the visitors. The Flames recorded the final three scores in the final four minutes of action as Glaze (4:18), Lehman (3:14), and Sheive (0:20) each finished off the final margin of 18-11 for Liberty.
 
Coastal Carolina nearly matched Liberty shot-for-shot as the Flames outshot the host 32-30, however, the Chants had an 8-to-3 advantage in free position shots. The Flames grabbed four more ground balls as the Chants finished with 17 while LU scooped up 21.
 
Coastal will return to action on Saturday, April 23, in Conway, S.C. as the Chants will welcome Kennesaw State on Senior Day. The opening draw will take place after the Chanticleers will honor its senior class.
 
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.