CONWAY, S.C.. – The Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team earned the No. 3 seed at the 2023 ASUN Women's Lacrosse Championship to be held in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 3-6. The Chanticleers will open play at the championship tournament on Wednesday, May 3, versus ASUN newcomer Lindenwood in the first round. The opening draw is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET at Rock Stadium.
CCU enters tournament play with an 11-6 overall record after knocking off Queens University 20-10 in its 2023 regular-season finale on April 29.
The Chanticleers will look to avenge a 14-13 loss to the Lindenwood Lions in the tournament rematch. The Lions are 8-9 on the season after falling 15-14 on the road to Kennesaw State last Saturday.
ABOUT COASTAL
The CCU offense is led by
Kayla Downey (51 goals, 37 assists) with 88 points.
Avery McIlwaine (35 goals, 17 assists),
Sydney McClure (18 goals, 23 assists), and
Avery Snyder (10 goals, 19 assists) all have over 28 points on the season, with 52, 41, and 29 points, respectively. The offense has been ignited by
Devin Rybacki and McIlwaine, as the duo has won 63 and 42 draw controls each.
Defensively, the Chants are anchored by their starting goalkeeper
Claire Martell, who has started 16 of 17 contests. The redshirt junior goalie has stopped 117 shots and allowed 136 goals in just over 578 minutes in the cage on the season.
Gabrielle Beckett and Gertz have caused 12 turnovers each, while Martell has grabbed 42 groundballs to help return possession back to the offense.
ABOUT LINDENWOOD
Lindenwood is led by Logann Eldredge (63 goals, 11 assists), Isabella Rulapaugh (23 goals, 18 assists), and Elisabeth Ralph (19 goals, 12 assists) with 74, 41, and 31 points, respectively. Emma Arnold (24 goals, 4 assists) and Sara Grieco (13 goals, 13 assists) have also chipped in with 26 or more points. Lexy Biller often gets the offense started by winning 121 draw controls for the Lions to lead the team.
Defensively, Lindenwood's goalie Eleanor Kast has 840 minutes logged between the pipes, while Elizabeth Goth has appeared in seven contests, starting one. Kast (180 goals allowed, 109 saves) and Goth (51 goals allowed, 31 saves) have combined to allow 231 goals and make 140 saves in the 491 shots faced. Kelsey Long leads the Lions with 15 caused turnovers and has scooped up a team-high 30 groundballs.
The winner of the first-round match will move on to play No. 2 Jacksonville in the semifinals on Thursday, May 4, at 4 p.m. ET.
2023 ASUN Women's Lacrosse Schedule
Wednesday, May 3
ASUN Championship First Round
#4 Queens vs. #5 Kennesaw State - 1 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
#3 Coastal Carolina vs. #6 Lindenwood - 4 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Thursday, May 4
ASUN Championship Semifinals
#1 Liberty vs. #4 Queens/#5 Kennesaw State winner - 1 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
#2 Jacksonville vs. #3 Coastal Carolina/#6 Lindenwood winner - 4 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Saturday, May 6
ASUN Championship Final
TBD vs. TBD - 1 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
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.
