CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team will return home to host the Liberty Flames and Delaware State Hornets on Thursday and Friday, April 6 and 7, at Brooks Stadium.
Coastal enters the contest at 7-3 overall and 1-0 in conference action after earning a 17-7 road win over Kennesaw State to open up ASUN Conference play.
The Flames enter play at 5-5 on the year and 1-0 in league play, while the Hornets are 2-8 overall and 0-1 in ASUN action.
COASTAL vs. LIBERTY HISTORY
The Chanticleers trail in the all-time series 7-3 and are 2-4 at home versus the Flames. In the last meeting, however, Coastal Carolina fell 18-11 at home to Liberty in April 2022.
COASTAL vs. DELAWARE STATE HISTORY
The Chanticleers lead the all-time series 4-0 with a 2-0 home record versus Delaware State. Coastal Carolina is averaging 22.25 goals per game compared to DSU's 2.75 goals per game in the four meetings. In the last meeting, Coastal won 20-3 at home over the Hornets in April 2022.
ABOUT COASTAL
The CCU offense is led by
Kayla Downey (33 goals, 22 assists) with 55 points, while
Avery McIlwaine (21 goals, 11 assists),
Avery Snyder (5 goals, 12 assists), and
Hope Steuerwald (17 goals, 1 assist) are close behind with 32, 19, and 18 points, respectively. The offense has been ignited by
Devin Rybacki and McIlwaine, as the duo has won 38 and 29 draw controls each.
Defensively, the Chants are anchored by their starting goalkeeper
Claire Martell, who has started all 10 contests. The redshirt junior goalie has stopped 73 shots and allowed 80 goals in almost 490 minutes in the cage on the season.
Claudia Kelly has forced nine turnovers, while Martell has grabbed 22 groundballs to help return possession back to the offense.
ABOUT LIBERTY
Liberty is led by Mackenzie Lehman (21 goals, 8 assists), Jordan Sheive (14 goals, 9 assists), and Cami Merkel (14 goals, 7 assists) with 29, 23, and 21 points, respectively. Kelly Scott (12 goals, 6 assists), Lizzy Ferguson (16 goals, 1 assist), Tori Banks (10 goals, 1 assist), and Olivia Glaze (5 goals, 5 assists) have chipped in with 18, 17, 11, and 10 points each. Ferguson often gets the offense started by winning 86 draw controls for the Flames to lead the team.
Defensively, Liberty has split time with goalies Mara Tellers and Taylor Gallarello both seeing action in the 10 contests. Tellers (73 goals allowed, 31 saves) and Gallarello (44 goals allowed, 36 saves) have combined to allow 117 goals and make 67 saves in the 249 shots faced. Gallarello has started the last three matches and has a 4-0 record between the pipes. Ferguson and Grace Loughery lead the Flames with 13 caused turnovers each, while Loughery has scooped up a team-high 25 groundballs.
ABOUT DELAWARE STATE
The Hornets are led by Gwenna Gentle (18 goals, 1 assist) and Ebony Reddick (16 goals, 3 assists) with 19 points each. Rossella Nardi (14 goals, 3 assists) and Saniya Craft (10 goals, 3 assists) have chipped in with 17 and 13 points, respectively. Gentle (33), Mica Lambert (24), and Zahra Smith (20) often get the offense started by winning a combined 77 draw controls for Delaware State to lead the team.
Defensively, the Hornets have started three different goalies in Yeda Couto-Erickson, Molysha Brown, and Isabel Gautreaux with Couto-Erickson earning seven starts of the 10 games. Couto-Erickson (81 goals allowed, 61 saves), Gautreaux (32 goals allowed, 22 saves), and Brown (15 goals allowed, 18 saves) have combined to allow 128 goals and make 101 saves in the 297 shots faced. Ameerah Green and Tia Epps lead the team with seven caused turnovers, while Green has scooped up a team-high 13 groundballs.
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.
