KENNESAW, Ga. – Coastal Carolina's Kayla Downey, Avery McIlwaine, and Bethany Bruck led the Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team to a 17-7 ASUN Conference road win over the Kennesaw State Owls in Kennesaw, Ga., on Friday afternoon.
 
The win pushed Coastal to 7-3 overall and 1-0 in league play, while the loss dropped the Owls to 1-9 on the year and 0-1 in ASUN action.
 
The trio of Downey (3 goals, 2 assists), McIlwaine (3 goals), and Bruck (3 goals, 2 assists) combined to record nine goals and four assists. Six other Chants notched at least one goal, while four more players added an assist as the Women in Teal scored 17 goals with the help of six assists in the win.
 
CCU's Alyson Mascolo (2 goals) and Monica Manley (2 goals) both had multiple goals in the win. Devin Rybacki (1 goal, 1 assist) and Riley Glackin (1 assist) joined Downey and Bruck for the six assists.
 
For Kennesaw State, four different players found the back of the net, led by two goals by Caroline Farley (2 goals), Zoe King (2 goals), and Shannon Harrington (2 goals, 1 assist).
 
Earning the win in goal for the Chants was Claire Martell, as the starting goalie made five saves on 14 shot attempts over 45 minutes between the pipes. Sophomore Charlotte Sadler finished out the remaining 15 minutes in goal and made three saves on six shots.
 
The loss fell to the Owls' starter Julia Weiss, who allowed nine goals and made seven saves in just 30 minutes of action.
 
Coastal outshot KSU 46-20 for the game and forced 20 turnovers by the home team.
 
The Women in Teal opened the contest with a 3-0 burst to take the lead, as Sydney McClure (1 goal) sparked the surge with McIlwaine and Manley adding goals for the lead with 11:15 left in the first period.
 
The Owls' Farley cut the Chants' lead to 3-1 only to see Coastal Carolina respond with a second 3-0 first-quarter run started by an unassisted goal from McIlwaine with 4:34 remaining in the opening stanza. With time running down in the first period, Mascolo and Bruck needed just 10 seconds to score a pair of goals for the 6-1 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
 
In the second period, Coastal outshot the home-standing Owls 16-5 but only outscored KSU 3-0. CCU's Bruck hit teammate Downey in front of the goal to record the first of three Chanticleer goals and was followed by Glackin assisting on Downey's second goal of the game. With 1:36 remaining in the second quarter, Bruck found Maddie Bates on the right side of the goal to cap off the visitors' third 3-0 run of the game to give the Chants a 9-1 halftime lead.

However, the Owls opened the third quarter with a 4-0 run to cut CCU's lead to 9-5 just before the Chanticleers' Rybacki, Mia Sheldon, Bruck, and Downey answered with four straight goals in 1:42 to extend their lead to 13-5. The goal by Sheldon was the first of her career.
 
Meanwhile, KSU's Harrington tallied the final goal of the third period with 1:03 remaining on the game clock to cut the CCU advantage to 13-6.
 
In the fourth and final quarter, the Chants' Manley recorded her second goal on the day with a free-position goal with 10:36 remaining in regulation to open the fourth-period scoring. Later in the period, McIlwaine and Bruck followed up with unassisted goals to cap off their hat tricks and start the running clock with a 10-goal lead at 16-6.
 
CCU's Mascolo tallied the final goal for the Chanticleers with a free-position goal to push the lead to 17-6 with 2:00 left to play in regulation. Meanwhile, KSU's Natalie Welch scored her second goal of the season with 12 seconds left in the game for the final margin of 17-7.
 
Coastal will return to Conway, S.C., next week to continue ASUN Conference play, as the Chanticleers will host Liberty on Thursday (April 6) and Delaware State on Friday (April 7). The opening draws for both contests are scheduled for noon ET and 11 a.m. ET, respectively.
 
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.