CONWAY, S.C. – Kayla Downey recorded eight points to lead the Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team to a 16-7 win over the visiting Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Rams on Saturday afternoon in Conway, S.C. With the win, the Chanticleers improved to 2-2 on the season, while VCU dropped to 4-3 with the loss.
 
Coastal's Downey tallied five goals and three assists to lead three Chants with hat tricks, as Hope Steuerwald and Sophie Kingsborough recorded four and three goals each. The trio were aided by Avery McIlwaine, who scored two goals, while Sydney McClure and Brigid Cardillo found the back of the net once each. McIlwaine, Devin Rybacki, and Avery Snyder got the offense started by winning five, four, and three draw controls, respectively.
 
The Chanticleer defense was paced by Claire Martell in goal, as the redshirt junior stopped nine of the 23 shots she faced and allowed just seven goals. Jordan Gertz (three) and Lilly Wallace (two) teamed up to cause five turnovers combined, while Martell led the team with four groundballs.
 
VCU was led by Juliana George and Meghan McLaughlin with two goals each, while Savannah Slack won four draw controls.
 
Defensively for the Rams, Meghna Dawar started her seventh game in goal making 11 saves on 37 shots. Dawar also scooped up six groundballs, while Slack grabbed five groundballs to help the offense get the ball back.
 
In the opening quarter, Coastal's Downey, with the assist from Snyder, scored the first goal of the game with just 1:18 expiring from the game clock to take the early 1-0 lead, only to see the Rams even the match up at 1-1 just over two minutes later.
 
The Chanticleers increased their advantage, as Downey found Steuerwald open in front of the goal and then followed up with her second goal of the day for a 3-1 lead.
 
CCU finished the first-period scoring with McIlwaine beating the visitor's goalkeeper with a free-position goal to take a 4-1 advantage after 15 minutes of action.
 
The Rams pulled to within one goal in the second period with back-to-back goals by Slack and McLaughlin to trail 4-3. The Chants answered with a pair of goals, as Steuerwald and Kingsborough doubled up VCU at 6-3 with 7:52 remaining in the second quarter.
 
Virginia Commonwealth scored its final first-half goal with a Juliana George goal to cut the Rams deficit to 6-4 before Coastal's Downey sparked a 9-0 run with her final three goals of the game to give the Chanticleers a 9-4 advantage at the halftime break.
 
The third quarter belonged to the Chants, as McClure, McIlwaine, and Cardillo each filled the back of the net to give CCU a 13-4 advantage with 15 minutes left to play.
 
Coastal Carolina opened the final period with Kingsborough beating the Rams' goalie to give CCU a 14-4 advantage and start the running clock. The Chants' Steuerwald pushed the lead to 15-4 with 6:42 remaining in regulation only to see VCU answer with three straight goals to trail 15-7.
 
Coastal scored the final goal for the 16-7 margin, as Steuerwald found the back of the net with two seconds remaining.
 
CCU will return to action on Tuesday, March 7, as the Chanticleers will host Boston University. The opening draw is scheduled for noon p.m. 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.