JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team fell 13-7 to ASUN Conference defending champion Jacksonville on the road on Thursday evening in Jacksonville, Fla.
 
The loss dropped Coastal to 9-6 overall and 2-3 in league play, while the Dolphins improved to 8-6 on the year and 4-1 in ASUN action with the win.
 
The game was one of two halves, as the visiting Chanticleers outscored the home-standing Dolphins 7-3 in the second half of play. However, Jacksonville outscored Coastal 10-0 in the first half, which proved too big of a deficit to overcome.
 
Coastal Carolina's Abi George (3 goals) and Alyson Mascolo (2 goals) led the offensive attack with three and two points, respectively, while Kayla Downey (1 goal) and Avery McIlwaine (1 goal) each scored a goal for the Chanticleers.
 
Defensively, the Chants made 13 saves between Claire Martell (12 saves) and Charlotte Sadler (1 save), with Sadler getting her first career start in the cage. Coastal caused five turnovers with Jordan Gertz finishing with a team-high two forced turnovers.
 
Jacksonville was paced by Sarah Elms with six goals and one assist for seven points, while Hudson Gentile, Lauren Craft, and Lauren Ellis tallied two goals each.
 
Defensively, the Dolphins' Addy Tysdal did not allow a single goal and made five saves in 30 minutes of action, while Paige Pagano allowed seven goals and made three saves in the second half.
 
The opening period belonged to host Jacksonville, as the Dolphins jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first 15 minutes of action ignited by a woman-up goal by Elms and capped off by a Gentile goal with 2:33 remaining in the first quarter.
 
Both defenses settled down in the second quarter, as 8:12 ticked off the game clock before Jacksonville increased its lead to 9-0. The Dolphins closed the first-half scoring on Molly Brock's lone goal of the game to lead 10-0 with 4:28 remaining on the game clock until the halftime intermission.
 
To start the third period, the Dolphins pushed their lead to 12-0 with a pair of goals by Elms with just one minute expiring off the game clock. Despite trailing by 12 and with a running clock, the Women in Teal finally broke the seal on the goal as George beat the JU defense for a free-position goal to trail 12-1 with 6:03 left to play in the quarter.
 
With 5:07 remaining in the third quarter, CCU's Gabrielle Beckett found George in front of the cage for the Chants' second goal of the day to trail 12-2. Coastal's George was not finished as she cut the deficit to nine at 12-3 with her third goal of the day with 27 seconds remaining in the third period.
 
Coastal closed to within eight at 12-4 with 13:33 remaining in regulation on Mascolo's first goal of the day, only to see the home team push its lead to 13-4 with their final goal of the day. The Chanticleers closed the game with a 3-0 run on goals by McIlwaine, Downey, and Mascolo.
 
For the game, the Dolphins won the draw control battle 20-4, which allowed them to outshoot the Chants 36-20.
 
Coastal will close out the road portion of the 2023 ASUN Conference schedule, as the Chanticleers will travel to DeLand, Fla., for a matchup with Stetson on Saturday, April 22. 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.