DELAND, Fla. – Coastal Carolina's Monica Manley led seven Chanticleers with multiple goals in the 20-11 road win over the Stetson Hatters in DeLand, Fla., on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Chants improved to 10-6 overall and 3-3 in ASUN Conference action, while the Hatters dropped to 8-8 on the year and 1-5 in league play with the loss.
 
With the win, Coastal clinched a spot in the 2023 ASUN Women's Lacrosse Championship to be held in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 4-6.
 
It was the second consecutive game with a tale of two halves, as the visiting Chanticleers outscored the home-standing Hatters 15-3 in the second half of play. Stetson jumped out to the early 8-5 first-half advantage.
 
Coastal's Manley recorded the hat trick with five goals on the day and was joined by Abi George with her hat trick, while Riley Glackin, Bethany Bruck, Avery Snyder, Sydney McClure, and Maddie Bates all tallied two goals each. The Chants got five of the team's 12 assists from McClure while Kayla Downey added three assists to go with her one goal.
 
Defensively, Claire Martell made nine stops in the cage while allowing 11 goals. The defense forced 17 turnovers, with Marissa Munson, Devin Rybacki, Avery McIlwaine, Jordyn Gertz, George, and Snyder each causing one turnover apiece, while Gertz scooped a team-high three groundballs
 
Stetson was paced by four goals each by Jordyn Humphrey and Kaitlin Pani, while Sam King, Molly Kearney, and Aine Williams added one goal apiece for the Hatters.
 
The Hatters' goalie Sydney Heimann allowed 20 goals while making just eight saves. Isabella Fernandez helped the defense get the ball back by causing a team-high two turnovers and scooping a team-high three groundballs.
 
In the opening quarter, Stetson jumped out to a 2-0 lead on back-to-back goals by Kearney and Humphrey with 10:57 left in the first period. Coastal answered with its first goal, as McClure cut the lead in half as she was able to beat the Hatters' defense.
 
With just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Stetson pushed its lead to 4-1 on back-to-back goals by Pani. After a Chanticleer timeout, Manley cut the deficit to two with her first tally on the day to trail 4-2, only to see the home team answer with Humphrey's second goal of the day to lead 5-2 at the end of the first period.
 
Coastal Carolina opened the second-quarter scoring with Downey finding George in front of the crease to trail 5-3 with 12:07 left until the halftime break. The Hatters' Humphrey recorded the hat trick to double up the Chants at 6-3 with 8:37 on the game clock.
 
With 5:55 left until the halftime intermission, CCU's Snyder pulled the visitors to within two at 6-4, which was followed 31 seconds later by Stetson's Williams putting the home team up three at 7-4. The Hatters doubled up the Women in Teal as Pani tallied the woman-down goal. The Chants closed out the first-half scoring as George wove through the defense to cut the deficit to 8-5 at halftime.
 
The third quarter belonged to Coastal Carolina as the visitors from Conway outscored the home team 8-1 to take control of the game. CCU opened the second-half scoring with a 3-0 run on goals by McClure, Manley, and Glackin to even the contest at 8-8, only to see the Hatters retake the lead at 9-8 with 9:03 remaining on the game clock in the third period.
 
With 8:04 left in the third period, Coastal knotted the game at 9-9 on a goal by Bruck and took its first lead at 10-9 just 43 seconds later with the hat trick goal by Manley. The Chanticleers pushed the lead to four at 13-9 on goals by Glackin, Snyder, and Manley.
 
With 15 minutes remaining to play in regulation, Stetson's Pani opened the fourth-quarter scoring pulling the home team to within three at 13-10. Coastal fired off eight straight goals, ignited on a goal by George and capped off by Bates for the 18-10 advantage.
 
The Hatters tallied their final goal of the game as Humphrey filled the back of the net to pull the home team to within seven at 18-11. Coastal needed just 40 seconds to close the scoring to give the Chants a 20-11 lead with 1:05 left to play in regulation.
 
Coastal Carolina will return to action to wrap up the 2023 regular-season schedule, as the Chanticleers will host ASUN newcomer Queens on Saturday, April 29. 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.