CONWAY, S.C. – Raking in his fourth season as the leader of the Presbyterian College lacrosse program, head coach
Eric Clakeley and co. complete their final preparations for the beginning of a new season at the tail end of the weekend, starting the 2023 rundown at Coastal Carolina on Sunday. The first draw control of a veteran-laden roster's campaign will take place at noon.
Displaying a grand total of 10 seniors to their '23 unit – returning 19 players altogether beside four freshmen – the Blue Hose figure to be one of the most experienced clubs in the Big South with a challenging slate ahead of them. The three-hour trip to Conway will be the first of 10 road bouts on the semester, rendered as the visiting side for nearly 60% of the upcoming schedule.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
A member of the ASUN conference, Coastal Carolina has put together 16 combined victories over the previous two seasons behind a 6-11 march in 2022. Only registering five league meetings over the entire schedule, the Chanticleers were granted entry into the postseason, though were immediately ousted by top seed and nationally-ranked Jacksonville by 13 goals in the tourney's first round.
Holding a 2-4 record whenever the hosting party a year ago, CC and second-year coach Rachel Shuck Whitten enjoy a rare luxury of eight consecutive home dates to kick off the season lasting over a full month, playing in their own backyard 12 times out of 17 total events. Midfielder Avery McIlwaine and attacker Kayla Downey were each selected for the ASUN's preseason all-league roster.
One of three teams across an eight-school conference to receive at least one first-place vote by ASUN coaches, the Chanticleers bring a third-place projection into 2023 at just five points back of #2 in the league. McIlwaine and Downey combined for 48 goals and 25 assists one year back, serving as a quality test for PC to open up the calendar.
2022 BLUE HOSE RECAP
Optimism surrounds Presbyterian's spring layout thanks to the aforementioned senior wave, returning 14 players who competed in at least 12 matchups and five who started a double-digit tally of games. Senior
Abby Edmisten ran away with the team-high in goals as a junior (38), landing a shot-on-goal percentage of .791 in 68 attempts.
Not all of PC's accomplishments last year came from upperclassmen, however. Then-freshman
Willow Hammond secured 19 scores on 26 draw controls throughout her first year, while then-sophomore
Kylie Sullivan added 22 more DC's.
Paige Gacek and
Kendall Goldfarb – the anchors of the Presbyterian defense gearing up for their last go-around – totaled 67 ground ball pickups in 2022, forcing the opposing side into 37 turnovers between them. Classmates
Ava Ward and
Taryn Tomas were equally effective at the midfield/defensive spots, collecting 24 and 21 ground balls respectively.
Sunday's contest on the Palmetto State coast will be streamed live through the Chanticleer Sports Network. A link to the video feed can be found below, or at the top of this page.
PC vs. Coastal Carolina Live Video -
https://goccusports.com/watch/?Live=288&type=Live
