Women's Lacrosse 2/12/2019 12:00:00 PM

2019 RADFORD LACROSSE SEASON PREVIEW

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Callie Bonnel, Juliette Ruland, Shelby Merchant, Avery Reding, Emma Rogers, Adrian Rius, Michaela Petersen and Hannah Rosen. Those are the eight players have been with Radford Women's Lacrosse alongside coaches Haley Hardy (formerly Marvine) and Julia Heaps since the program was founded in 2015 and began play in 2016.

Now in their fourth and final year as Highlanders, that crew of veterans is ready to lead their team through a very special season.

"I think it's a really big year for the seniors because they're the class that started it all," said Hardy. "There's a lot they want to accomplish and a good portion of their goals are still out there to achieve. So there's a lot of good pressure that comes with being a senior and wanting to finish a lot of the goals you have for your playing career."

There's no denying the improvements Coach Hardy's teams have made over the past three seasons. After a 1-14 record in their inaugural season, the Highlanders made a huge leap to 6-11 in 2017 including a pair of victories over Big South opposition that landed them a berth in the Big South Tournament. The 2018 season was even better thanks to a 3-4 mark in conference play and another trip to the postseason.

"Each year we've made a steady climb up the Big South standings, which is great," noted Hardy. "We've never had a year where we remained the same. We want to become one of the top 3 teams in the conference and stay there without falling back at all. So that's what we are really working towards this year - being able to maintain our success and then really start competing with the top teams in the conference."

The schedule for the 2019 season presents challenges both old and new, with familiar faces once again going head-to-head, multiple teams ranked nationally and yet another tough six-game conference slate.

Radford will kick things off with Saint Francis (Pa.) for the fourth consecutive season before hitting the road to George Washington and No. 14 Virginia Tech. Then after a pair of home games against Mount St. Mary's and La Salle, the Highlanders will go on their biggest road trip ever to California where Fresno State and UC Davis await them. One final non-conference contest at Robert Morris gives Radford a tune-up before charging into conference play with higher hopes and higher expectations than ever.

"Virginia Tech has become a national power over the last couple of years so we're excited to have them on the schedule again and I think any time you go play on the west coast its challenging with adjusting to the time change and all the travel, but we are going to have different kinds of adversity hit us throughout the season so whether we are home, 15 minutes down the road at Tech, or across the country we need to be prepared," continued Hardy.

Following the departure of Liberty for the Atlantic Sun, the head coaches of the Big South got together and voted to decrease the amount of teams that make the Big South Tournament from six to four, making Radford's margin for error slightly smaller.

Even still, the Highlanders were picked to finish fourth in the 2019 Big South Preseason Poll so they're being seen as one of the top contenders for the title.

"We voted to narrow the tournament down to four teams which I was behind I think tournaments should be somewhat selective it should be the best of the best," said Hardy. "We honestly hate to lose any strong opponent, but Liberty leaving opens things up a little bit and this past year the Big South had a lot of great seniors that graduated so I think the conference is a little unknown this year. We look forward to seeing a lot of new faces in the league and for the first time we are the veteran team, so it's a different look for us and different shoes we're having to step in."

Bonnel and Rius, who were both voted onto the Preseason All-Big South team, will be relied on to lead an extremely potent scoring attack that returns nearly every piece from a record-breaking season in 2018.

Standing at only 5-foot, 2-inches, Bonnel may not look intimidating until she uses her speed and shiftiness to race past defenders like its nothing. As a junior, she was named First Team All-Big South after setting a single-season school record for goals scored with 55. She cemented her place of one of the deadliest free position scorers in conference history, setting the single-season record with 25 goals after drawing fouls.

Then there's Rius, who made her way north from Boca Raton, Fla. to provide the Highlanders with a great goal scorer and an even better draw control specialist. In 2018, she scored a career-high 45 goals while ranking 23^rd in the nation with 5.71 draw controls per game en route to a program record 97 on the year.

"Callie and Adrian were the really big forces in our offense last year and two of the biggest offensive forces in the conference," glowed Hardy. "They're both preparing right now to have an even better season than last year."

Lindsey Carroll, Haley Harris and Jennifer Shield will all be heavily involved in the attacking rotation for Radford this season as well.

"We are expecting a lot out of Lindsay this year. She has had some strong performances for us and we're confident that she will be a consistent force for us. Jen Shield looks really ready to contribute more and produce more for us now that she's in her sophomore season as well. She's really been working hard so I think Jen will step up this year a lot."

Emma Rogers, Amanda Paino, Juliette Ruland, Brittany Rinaldi and Emily Kowalik will make up a formidable midfield.

"Genuinely, we would put our midfielders up against any midfielders in the Big South; we have a lot of depth and a lot of experience there. I think Brittney Rinaldi is going to have a great year, she's been working hard as usual and last year was kind of her freshman year for us so now I think she's a little more experienced and we believe she will have a strong year. Emma's back and ready for her senior year and Juliette is always consistent for us. She brings a really unique athletic skill set - her speed is unreal. Amanda Paino and Carly Craddock will also be in the mix for our midfield for sure."

Rachel Rogers, Megan Hawken and Avery Reding all return from last year's starting defense with Shelby Merchant and Katie Bendrick ready to join in as well.

"Again we have a lot of veterans on defense with Emily and Megan. Rachel is now a sophomore, but she played every game of her freshman year and I think she is really ready to go and has more experience than most players her age. Katie is the freshman who I think really worked her way to the top defenders very quickly and I really expect her to have a good season, she's really showed us a lot of what she could do this fall and she is really talented."

Jenny Davis, Maddie Mashewske, Hannah Rosen and newcomer Maddie Bowman will all battle for playing time at goalkeeper for Radford. All four are extremely capable of earning the job and playing like one of the Big South's best.

"It's a tight battle right now between our goalies. Hannah is our senior, she's most experienced, really athletic and really been able to do the job for us. Now it's just about her finding the consistency this year, but Maddie is on her heels. She has a ton of talent and is really providing a good level of competition which is awesome, because I think the more competition the better they all play."

Coach Hardy and Coach Heaps hit the recruiting trail hard again this past year and have an excellent 10-member freshman class on the roster to show for it. Carlie Rosenburg, Katie Bendrick, Anna Robinson, Kirsten Grzybowski, Maggie Egan, Madison Ryan, Mackenzie Ryan, Grace Gleason, Katie Carroll and the aforementioned Maddie Bowman will all have a chance to develop into premier Division I athletes and hopefully find ways to contribute to the success of the team as soon as possible.

"Two freshmen to really keep an eye on are Maddie and Katie who are both on the defensive end. We are really hoping that Anna Robinson and Katie Carroll, who is Lindsay's little sister, can contribute on offense and then hopefully see Madison Ryan contribute to the midfield too. We have a lot of talent in the freshman class, it's just a matter of finding where they fit in and them being ready once the games come."

The Highlanders kick off the 2019 season with a home game on Saturday, Feb. 16 at Noon when they'll play host to Saint Francis (Pa.). Admission to all games at Cupp Stadium is free.

For more information on the Radford women's lacrosse team visit RadfordAthletics.com, follow @RadfordWLAX on Twitter, 'radfordwlax' on Instagram or Radford Women's Lacrosse on Facebook.

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Players Mentioned

#27 Rachel Rogers: D; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#1 Callie Bonnel: M; 5' 2"; Senior

#2 Lindsey Carroll: A; 5' 5"; Junior

#29 Jenny Davis: GK; 5' 7"; Junior

#18 Haley Harris: A; 5' 6"; Junior

#26 Megan Hawken: D; 5' 11"; Junior

#19 Emily Kowalik: M/A; 5' 8"; Redshirt Junior

#5 Maddie Mashewske: GK; 5' 5"; Junior

#11 Shelby Merchant: D; 5' 4"; Senior

#3 Amanda Paino: M; 5' 6"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#27 Rachel Rogers
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: D

#1 Callie Bonnel
: 5' 2"; Senior
: M

#2 Lindsey Carroll
: 5' 5"; Junior
: A

#29 Jenny Davis
: 5' 7"; Junior
: GK

#18 Haley Harris
: 5' 6"; Junior
: A

#26 Megan Hawken
: 5' 11"; Junior
: D

#19 Emily Kowalik
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Junior
: M/A

#5 Maddie Mashewske
: 5' 5"; Junior
: GK

#11 Shelby Merchant
: 5' 4"; Senior
: D

#3 Amanda Paino
: 5' 6"; Junior
: M

Radford University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned