DELAND, Fla. – Kayla Downey recorded a career-high six goals to lead the Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team to a 23-13 victory over the Stetson Hatters to close out the regular season on Saturday in DeLand, Fla. With the win the Chanticleers improved to 6-10 on the year and 2-3 in ASUN action, while the Hatters dropped to 4-11 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
 
Coastal Carolina saw 11 players record a goal with Downey scoring a game-high six goals, while Abi George and Monica Manley added three goals each for their hat-tricks. Sydney Tornetta, Avery McIlwaine, Hannah Demis, and Lauren Cremen finished with two goals apiece, while Megan Bozzi, Devin Rybacki, and Brigid Cardillo chipped in with one goal each.
 
Stetson was led by Maria Snee, who recorded a hat-trick with three goals, while Saige Roe, Samantha Paglino, Jacklyn Lavoie, and Jordyn Humphrey all found the back of the net twice. Georgia Goering and Kate Johnson were able to tally one goal each for the Hatters.
 
CCU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead as McIlwaine opened the scoring with just 2:52 expiring from the game clock, which was followed by Rybacki putting Coastal up 2-0 off a free position goal with nine minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Chants made it 3-0 as George recorded her first goal on a second Chanticleer free position goal. With just 27 seconds expiring from the game clock, Demis then found Cremen open, who fired a shot past the Hatters' goalkeeper to make it 4-0 for the visitors. Manley finished the five-goal run with the third Chanticleer free position goal.
 
The Hatters' Snee scored her first goal of the day to stop the CCU run and cut the lead to 5-1 with 4:18 remaining in the opening quarter before Coastal's Downey scored back-to-back with 17 seconds between both scores for the 7-1 first-period score.
 
Coastal raced out to an eight-goal advantage as Tornetta (14:06) and Bozzi (12:52) tallied a pair of goals for the 9-1 lead in the second quarter.
 
Stetson answered with its second goal of the day as Paglino filled the net at 11:07 to cut the advantage to 9-2. The two squads traded goals as CCU's Manley made it 10-2 before the Hatters' Snee cut the lead to 10-3 with 9:41 left until the intermission.
 
Coastal answered with a quick pair of goals again, this time by George (9:22) and Cremen (8:55) to go up 12-3. Stetson retaliated with three goals to cut the lead in half at 12-6 and force a timeout by the Chanticleers.
 
After regrouping, the Chants came out of the timeout and recorded a pair of goals to go up 14-6 as Tornetta and Manley made the net dance. With 2:16 remaining until the half, the Hatters' Humphrey hit back-to-back goals to cut the visitors' lead to 14-8. Coastal's Manley scored her hat-trick goal with 1:13 left on the clock in the second period for the final score of the first 30 minutes of action and halftime score of 15-8.
 
Coastal increased its lead to 16-8 as Downey scored on another free position goal with 1:01 expiring from the game clock. The Hatters cut the lead to seven as Roe round the angle on the visitors' goalkeeper with 13 minutes remaining in the third quarter, while teammate Paglino cut further into the Chants' advantage at 16-10 just 28 seconds later.
 
Coastal Carolina pushed its lead to 20-10 and forced a running clock briefly as Downey (9:56),  Demis (9:09, 5:36), and George (5:01) each filled back of the net. Stetson closed the third-quarter scoring with a pair of goals by Roe and Goering for the third-period margin of 20-12.
 
As they had done in the previous three quarters, the Chants scored first as Downey put a pair of goals past the Hatters' goalkeeper to force the running clock for a second time on the day at 22-12. Stetson stopped the running clock as Johnson recorded her lone tally of the day. Coastal closed out the game's scoring as Cardillo found the back of the net with five minutes left in the contest.
 
Defensively, Coastal Carolina's Claire Martell stopped eight of the Hatters' 29 shots. Tess Gray and Avery Whitehead caused three and two turnovers, respectively, while Whitehead scooped up four ground balls. Stetson played a pair of goalkeepers with both combining to stop six of the 40 shot attempts by CCU.
 
Coastal Carolina will return to action on May 3, as the Chants will travel to Jacksonville, Fla., to compete in the 2022 ASUN Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. The No. 4 seed Chanticleers will take on the No. 1 seed Jacksonville Dolphins at Rock Field.
 
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.