CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team's three-game win streak was snapped on Tuesday afternoon, as the Harvard Crimson defeated the Chants 12-10 inside Brooks Stadium on the campus of Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C.
The loss dropped the Chanticleers to 4-3 on the season, while Harvard improved to 2-4 with the win.
CCU's offense was paced by
Kayla Downey with two goals and two assists for four points, while
Avery McIlwaine tallied two goals and one assist. Six other Chants in
Hope Steuerwald (1 goal),
Sydney McClure (1 goal, 1 assist),
Avery Snyder (1 goal, 1 assist),
Alyson Mascolo (1 goal),
Brigid Cardillo (1 goal), and
Abi George (1 goal) all had one goal in the loss.
Defensively, Coastal's
Claire Martell stopped six of the Crimson's 25 shot attempts, while
Claudia Kelly forced two turnovers along with grabbing two groundballs to lead the defense.
Harvard was led by Callie Hem (2 goals, 4 assists) with six points, while Riley Campbell and Charlotte Hodgson added four and three goals, respectively. Maddie Barkate, Shea Jenkins, and Caroline Mullahy also found the back of the net once for the Crimson. Jenkins and Barkate got the Harvard offense started by winning six and five draw controls.
On the defensive side of the field, Lizzie Francioli earned her second win of the season by making 11 saves and allowing 10 goals.
Campbell and Despina Giannakopoulos each scooped up two groundballs, while also causing one turnover apiece.
In the first quarter, Harvard needed just 12 seconds to open the scoring, as Jenkins won the opening draw and outraced the Chanticleer defense for her first goal of the season to put the visitors up 1-0. Coastal answered with a score of its own when Snyder capitalized from the pass by Downey to beat the Crimson defense to even the score at 1-1 with 12:58 remaining in the first period.
After falling down by two goals at 3-1, the Chanticleers' Mascolo beat the Crimson goalkeeper with a free position goal to cut the home team's deficit to 3-2. With time running down in the first quarter, Harvard increased its lead by two goals as Campbell filled the back of the net as time expired to lead 4-2 to end the first quarter.
Both defenses stood strong in the second quarter, as each team force one shot clock violation each. The Chants cut their deficit to one goal to trail 4-3, with Snyder returning the favor and finding Downey in front of the cage. The Crimson increased its lead to two goals with the final goal of the second period to lead 5-3 at the halftime intermission.
In the third period, Coastal answered each Harvard goal to trail 7-5 with 8:07 remaining to play in the quarter, only to see the Crimson open a four-goal lead with back-to-back goals by Hem to lead 9-5.
CCU's George scored her third goal of the season as the Chants trailed 9-6 with 4:11 left to play. Harvard closed the third-quarter scoring to take a 10-6 lead.
With 15 minutes left to play in regulation, Coastal's McIlwaine played a part in the first of two goals, as she assisted on Cardillo's fourth goal of the season and then recorded her 14th goal as
Monica Manley picked up the assist to put the Chants down just two at 10-8 with 13:04 left to play. The Crimson pushed their lead to three goals as Hem found Hodgson open in front of the net.
The Chanticleers responded with a free position goal by McIlwaine, which was followed by Steuerwald cutting the deficit to one goal at 11-10 with 4:31 left in regulation. However, Harvard's Mullahy beat the defense for the final margin of 12-10.
Coastal will wrap up its season-opening eight-game home stand this week, as the Chanticleers will host Marist on Friday, March 17. 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.
