CONWAY — Although lacrosse is most popular in the DMV (D.C., Maryland and Virginia) area of the United States, its popularity in the south is ever-growing.
For Coastal Carolina head women’s lacrosse coach Kristen Selvage, in her sixth year coaching the Chants, she has witnessed the state of South Carolina grow in its love for lacrosse at all levels.
“Watching the high school level grow has been awesome, but now we need to work on younger and younger so we can continue to watch South Carolina lacrosse get stronger and stronger,” she said.
The first time she went to a national tournament six years ago, Selvage said the South Carolina team was pretty weak, but four years later, she noticed the play had elevated significantly.
Most of the players on the Chants’ roster are from the DMV, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but while they’ve been here at the beach, they’ve enjoyed helping and watching the sport escalate in popularity.
Haley Wells, a graduate student defender from Baltimore, said when she first started at CCU, the team didn’t really do any work with outside lacrosse teams because it was still relatively new to the area.
Now, the team has started donating its cleats so high schoolers in the area could learn how to play the sport.
The popularity in the area grew so much that Coastal Carolina started a club team in addition to its already-established Division I team.
“Coach (Selvage) opened up a club team, and we started working with that club team,” Wells said. “I give lessons every summer I’m down here, working with local girls who don’t get the experience and don’t get to see Division I college students or even get to see games.”
Wells said a lot of girls in the area have reached out to the team about coming to their games or going to their practices.
Abbey Buchanan, a graduate student midfielder from Wrentham, Mass., said the team also does clinics on the weekends and after-school lacrosse programs.
“It keeps us super involved with the community lacrosse and growing it, as well as also growing our fan base and getting people to come to our games, which also made the younger girls appreciate the sport and learn how to play,” she said.
So far this season, the CCU women’s lacrosse team is 5-1 as of March 16 with its lone blemish coming against then-No. 25 Elon. This is the first year the team has been in the Southern Conference, as it was previously in the Atlantic Sun (the Sun Belt, which is home to the majority of the other sports at CCU, does not have women’s lacrosse).
Though it is their first year playing in a new conference, Selvage hopes the team can win it by learning how to play against all of its news SoCon opponents, helping the team grow each and every week.
“I think the big takeaway will be how much can we grow and how much can we learn from regular season conference play so we can take it into postseason conference play and hopefully beyond that.
In addition to Wells and Buchanan, the program is filled with graduate students who have been in the program for five years, including Samantha Courtemanche of Ellicott City, Md.
Courtemanche was named the February SoCon Offensive Player of the Month in February, tallying 19 points on 11 goals and eight assists in leading the offensive attack to a 3-0 start.
“First of all, the constant dedication and continuing to grow their own game,” Selvage said of her fifth-year players. “They didn’t come into this year and say I was here, I don’t have anywhere to go with my talent; they decided they wanted to be twice as good and twice as fit, and so they set the example and led with a positive attitude.”
Selvage also praised them for embracing the team’s “pay-it-forward” mindset, commending younger players when they do well, which has helped build team chemistry.
The Chants have two standout freshman this year, goalie Claire Martell of Verbank, N.Y. and midfielder Monica Manley of Westchester, Penn.
Martell was named the SoCon Defensive Player of the Month for February. In three games, she caused three turnovers, grabbed 11 ground balls, and allowed just 19 goals while making 26 saves for a .578 save percentage.
“I play defense, so I play really close with Claire,” Wells said. “I’ve seen her grow so much; her confidence has skyrocketed — she’s a vocal leader on our team; she does a cheer before every game (and) she hypes us all up. She’s a big part of the team and definitely the backbone of our defense.”
Manley was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week for the first week of March when she totaled nine points on six goals and two assists in the two Chants’ wins, while also winning 11 draw controls. She posted a 1.000 shots on goal percentage and also registered a .857 shot percentage, scoring six goals on just seven shots.
“I remember telling Monica in the fall I just want to keep building her confidence because I knew she was going to be an important part to our team this spring,” Buchanan said. “After she’s had such a great start to the season, I’m so excited for her and I keep reminding her, ‘You’re so good and I want you to be confident. You’re only a freshman and look what you’re doing.’”
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