CHARLOTE, N.C. – The Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team (10-4, 3-0 ASUN) defeated the Queens Royals (8-6, 2-1 ASUN) today 21-14 at the Queens Sports Complex in Charlotte, N.C.
With the win today, the Chants extended their winning streak to seven games, while also remaining unbeaten in ASUN Conference play. CCU now shares the conference's top spot with Jacksonville at 3-0 heading into their matchup next week at Rock Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
Senior Maddie Bates continued her scoring tear today, tying her career-high with six goals, a record she set in CCU's 14-9 win over Liberty on Apr. 4. Bates has now scored 15 goals in her last three games, improving her season tally to 29, one shy of top goalscorer Sydney McClure with 30.
The Royals came out firing from the opening whistle, scoring two goals inside of the first six minutes of play. Coastal would equalize just two minutes later with goals from McClure and Abi George. Over the following seven minutes, both sides would trade the next four goals, resulting in a 4-4 deadlock at the end of the first quarter.
Queens would regain the lead early in the second quarter with a goal from Elise Grissett at the 14:15 mark. In her 50th career appearance and start for the Chants, senior Avery McIlwaine would again equalize for Coastal to tie the score at five, as she would go on to record her first four-goal game of the season. Coastal put two more goals on the board prior to the halftime whistle, leading 9-7 at the break.
The Chants outscored Queens 12-7 in the second half, with Bates scoring five of her six goals over the final 30 minutes. CCU led by as many as seven entering the fourth quarter following four unanswered goals from Bates in less than three minutes. Coastal would go on to hand Queens their first loss in conference play on their home field in a 21-14 win over the Royals.
As a team, CCU tied a season-high with 21 goals on 41 total attempts, and 34 on target, adding one goal from a free position attempt.
Four Chants finished with 3+ goals on the day, including Bates with six, McIlwaine with a season-high four and Alyson Mascolo and McClure each with a hat-trick. With her hat-trick today, McClure eclipsed the 50 goal mark for her Coastal career in her two seasons with the Chants. Coastal also received goal contributions from Brigid Cardillo, George, Evelyn Kitchin, Sophie Kingsborough, as well as Ryan Bionda's first goal of the 2024 season.
Defensively, CCU picked up 15 ground balls, 15 draw controls and caused 14 turnovers. Goalkeeper Charlotte Sadler recorded six saves on Queens' 20 total attempts on frame. Kitchin led the way in the draw control department with six, while also picking up a ground ball and forcing a turnover. Seniors Sydney Tornetta and Jordan Gertz both recorded a pair of ground balls and caused turnovers, leading in both categories.
The Chants will close out their four-game road trip against the first-place Jacksonville Dolphins on Thursday, Apr. 18 at 3 P.M. ET at Rock Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
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 goccusports.com
