CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team will open its 2023 season at home on Sunday, Feb. 12, versus Presbyterian College. The opening draw is scheduled for noon ET at Brooks Stadium on the campus of Coastal Carolina University.
Since the start of the program in 2013, the Chanticleers are 5-5 in season openers and 2-3 in season openers at home. Sunday's contest will be the season opener for both programs.
COASTAL vs. PRESBYTERIAN HISTORY
This will be the fifth meeting between the Chants and the Blue Hose, as the two teams met in the Big South Conference prior to Coastal Carolina moving to the ASUN Conference. CCU leads the all-time series with PC at 4-0 with the Chants picking up two wins at home and two on the road, including a 17-4 road win in the last meeting in March 2016.
ABOUT COASTAL
The top returning scorers for the Chanticleers returning this season are
Kayla Downey (25 goals, 18 assists, 43 points) and
Avery McIlwaine (23 goals, 7 assists, 30 points), who were named to the 2023 ASUN Preseason All-Conference team. Downey and McIlwaine were named to the 2022 ASUN All-Conference second team last season for their performances over the season.
The duo of Downey and McIlwaine will get help from senior
Abi George, who tallied 22 goals on the year in 2022.
As a team, Coastal scored 203 goals in the 2022 season while giving up 217 goals to its opponents.
Defensively, the Chants return their starting goalkeeper
Claire Martell, who faced 421 shots while stopping an ASUN Conference-leading 135 shots and averaged 8.44 saves per game. The redshirt junior goalie registered double-digit saves in six contests in 2022, including a season-high 13 stops at Richmond and at Vanderbilt. The defense also returns
Jordan Gertz and
Claudia Kelly as the duo caused combined for 17 caused turnovers and 27 ground balls.
ABOUT PRESBYTERIAN
The Blue Hose return 14 players who competed in at least 12 matchups and five who tallied double-digit starts a year ago. Abby Edmisten led the 2022 PC women's lacrosse team with 38 goals and a 79.1 shot-on-goal percentage in 68 attempts, while fellow returners Willow Hammond and Kylie Sullivan got the offense started with 26 and 22 draw controls, respectively.
Paige Gacek and Kendall Goldfarb will anchor the Blue Hose defense as the duo picked up a combined 67 ground ball pickups and forced PC's opponents into 37 turnovers. Naomi Lauderbaugh is the only goalkeeper on the roster with playing experience, as the sophomore netminder appeared in one game last year, where she faced 10 shots and made five saves while allowing four goals.
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.
