CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team dropped its final home game of the 2022 season at 16-14 against the Kennesaw State Owls in Conway, S.C., on Saturday, April 23. With the loss, the Chanticleers fall to 5-10 on the year and 1-3 in the ASUN, while the Owls improved to 11-5 overall and 3-1 in conference action.
Before the game, Coastal Carolina honored its 11 seniors in their final home game.
Coastal was led by
Lauren Cremen with four goals, while
Abi George chipped in with three goals to pace the offensive attack.
Megan Bozzi and
Devin Rybacki each added a pair of tallies with
Hannah Close,
Monica Manley, and
Kayla Downey adding one goal each. Kennesaw State saw Chesslyn Lamar record five goals along with the nation's leading goal scorer Siena Gore's four tallies to lead the visitors.
The Owls jumped out to the quick 1-0 lead as Lamar filled the back of the net up off a Bailey Wilson (1 goal, 2 assists) assist with 58 seconds expiring off the game clock. Coastal's George (13:13, 11:56) answered with a pair of goals to give the Chants their first lead of the contest at 11:56 remaining in the opening period. KSU needed just 51 seconds to even the match up as Lamar recorded her second tally of the day to make it 2-2. The Chanticleers jumped back out front at 3-2 with 9:05 remaining in the first quarter when Close scored unassisted. The Owls wrapped up the first-period scoring as Gore would win a pair of draw controls and outraced the defense and to record a pair of unassisted goals for the 4-3 advantage at the break.
CCU's Bozzi needed just 16 seconds to even the match up at 4-4, as the senior attacker found the back of the net on the unassisted score. The Owls pushed out to a four-goal advantage as Gore, Lamar, Natalie Welch, and McKenzie Jackson each notched a second-quarter goal for the 8-4 lead. With 6:14 remaining until the intermission, Coastal's Cremen (6:14, 3:16, and 2:38) scored the first goal of her first-half hat-trick as she sandwiched Gore's fourth goal of the day to cut the lead to 9-7 in favor of the visitors. KSU's Jaxsyn Schonewille finished the first-half scoring for the 10-7 margin at halftime.
The Chanticleers' George attempted to spark the offense in the third quarter as she cut the lead to 10-8 off an assist from Bozzi. Kennesaw State answered with a three-goal run to push its lead to 13-8 on goals by Wilson, Jackson, and Schonewille before CCU's Rybacki and Bozzi answered with a pair of goals to close out the third period scoring to cut the Owls' lead to 13-10.
The fourth and final quarter saw a total of seven goals scored as KSU's Lamar opened the scoring with her fourth tally of the day to push the lead to four at 14-10. Coastal answered with a quick pair of goals as Rybacki and Manley needed just 1:32 to cut the visitor's advantage in half at 14-12. After Kennesaw State's Mia MacKenzie made it 15-12 with 10:05 left in regulation, the Chanticleers answered as Cremen and Downey sandwiched the Owls' final goal for the final margin of 16-14.
KSU outshot the Chants 43-35 on the day with 32 of the Owls' shots being on frame compared to 30 for CCU. Coastal held a 15-14 advantage in ground balls but the Owls claimed the advantage in draw controls at 23-11.
Both teams played a pair of goalkeepers with each team finishing with 16 saves on the day. Coastal's
Kennedy Manning finished with a career-high nine saves while teammate
Claire Martell stopped seven shots. Martell also recorded three caused turnovers and three ground balls. KSU's Julia Weiss made 12 saves on the day while teammate Errin Crowe stopped four of the CCU attempts.
Coastal will wrap up the regular season against Stetson in Deland, Fla., on Saturday, April 30. The opening draw is scheduled 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.
