JACKSONVILLE, FL. – The Purple Eagles lacrosse team entered the first of two games on its Florida road trip coming off of its first win of the season at Robert Morris. Niagara was tied early in the second half with Coastal Carolina, but the Chanticleers pulled away late to send Niagara to a 13-8 loss Tuesday afternoon at D.B. Milne Field.
 
For the second straight game, freshman attacker Caroline Crump posted five points, leading Niagara (1-3) with four goals and an assist in Jacksonville. Taylor Wolf scored two goals, while Alexis Morales and Molly Gray rounded out the goal scoring for the Purple Eagles with one goal each.
 
Niagara's defense caused a season-high 16 turnovers, but the team failed to convert many of those opportunities into goals. Elizabeth Benedict caused a game-high four turnovers, while Danielle Maio and Kara Martin caused two turnovers apiece.
 
"We learned a lot of lessons as a team today," head coach Wendy Stone said. "The effort was there throughout the game, but we did not execute at both ends of the field."
 
In the first-ever meeting between these two schools, Coastal Carolina (1-2) got out to an early 3-0 lead while holding Niagara scoreless for the first ten minutes of the contest. The Purple Eagles found their legs after Morales opened the scoring with an assist from Crump with 19:27 left in the first period. That goal was the start of a 4-1 run for Niagara, with Crump scoring two goals before Gray tied the game 9:34 before halftime.
 
After Niagara tied the game, Coastal Carolina scored three goals in a span of 1:24 to break open a 7-4 lead. Wolf got Niagara within two with 1:06 left in the first period before scoring her tenth goal of the season 3:23 into the second period. Crump completed her hat trick to tie the game with 21:41, but Niagara would not be able to take the lead away from the Chanticleers.
 
Coastal Carolina's Sara Nolan scored two of her four second-period goals to reestablish her team's lead midway through the second period. Crump got Niagara back within one goal, but the Purple Eagles were shut out over the final 11:56 of the game, while Coastal Carolina tacked on four more goals en route to the 13-8 victory.
 
Next up for the Purple Eagles is a matchup in Gainesville with the University of Florida. That matchup with the third-ranked Gators is set for Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
 
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