CONWAY, S.C. – Avery McIlwaine recorded her second hat trick of the season to lead the Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team to a 13-9 win over the visiting Boston University Terriers on Tuesday afternoon in Conway, S.C. With the win, the Chanticleers improved to 3-2 on the season, while the Terriers dropped their first game of the year and fall to 5-1 with the loss.
 
Coastal's McIlwaine tallied three goals to lead three Chants with hat tricks, as Kayla Downey and Alyson Mascolo also recorded three goals each. The trio were aided by Hope Steuerwald, Gabrielle Beckett, Avery Snyder, and Abi George, who found the back of the net once each.
 
The CCU defense was paced by Claire Martell in goal, as the redshirt junior stopped 11 of the 27 shots she faced and allowed just nine goals. Claudia Kelly led the team with three caused turnovers, while Martell (four), Jordan Gertz (three), Ellie Roser (two), and Kelly (two) combined for 11 of the Chanticleers' 19 groundballs.


 
Despite losing the draw control battle at 18-8, the Chanticleers won the match by causing 23 turnovers.
 
Boston was led by Matty Spaeth and Jayne Feeney with three and two goals, respectively, while Claire Gola (seven) and Jennifer Barry (five) combined to win 12 of the Terriers' 18 draw controls.
 
Defensively for Boston, Reilly Agres started her sixth game in goal matching her counterpart with 11 saves on 30 shots. Agres also scooped up four groundballs, while Maddie MacMaster and Quinn Ferry grabbed three groundballs each to help the offense get the ball back.
 
In the first quarter, the Terriers had the opportunity to strike first but were unable to break the seal on the cage, as CCU's Martell made her first save to keep the visitors off the scoreboard. With almost four minutes expiring off the game clock, Coastal opened the scoring as Beckett found a wide-open Downey in front of the net for the 1-0 lead.
 
Boston knotted the match up at 1-1 only to see the Chants jump back in front at 2-1, as Steuerwald and Beckett filled the back of the net. The Terriers closed the first period scoring to cut the Coastal lead to 3-2.
 
Boston opened the second quarter with MacMaster's first goal of the match to even the score at 3-3, only to see the Chanticleers retake the lead at 5-3 with back-to-back goals by Mascolo. Despite the Terriers answering with their fourth goal of the match to cut the CCU advantage to one goal at 5-4, the Chanticleers would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way.
 
The Chanticleers increased their lead to 6-4 when Riley Glackin was able to find George for her second goal of the season. BU cut the lead to one once again at 6-5 with 3:11 remaining on the game clock before Coastal pushed the lead back to two goals at 7-5, as McIlwaine scored the final goal of the first half with 1:25 until the halftime intermission.
 
Coastal used a 3-1 burst to take a four-goal lead at 10-6 to start the third quarter, ignited by Downey's second goal of the match and capped off by a free-position goal by Snyder. However, the Terriers scored the final goal of the third period with 5:02 remaining in regulation to trim the Coastal lead to three at 10-7.
 
In the fourth and final quarter, the Chants' defense forced five turnovers, while both teams traded the five goals scored in the period.
 
CCU's Mascolo opened the scoring with 1:20 expiring from the game clock to put the Chanticleers up 11-7 with her third goal of the day. Boston answered to cut the score to 11-8 with just under 11 minutes remaining in regulation.
 
Coastal then extended its lead as McIlwaine recorded the hat trick to lead 12-8 with 8:17 left to play. The Terriers scored their final goal with two minutes left on the game clock to cut the deficit to 12-9, but it was not enough as the Chanticleers closed out the scoring for the match as Downey recorded her third goal for the final margin of 13-9.
 
Coastal Carolina will return to action on Sunday, March 12, as the Chanticleers will host the Iona Gaels. 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.