Lacrosse Drops Season Opener at George Mason

BOX SCORE SPRINGFIELD, Va. – The Radford women's lacrosse team opened the 2026 season with a 12-7 loss to George Mason on Friday afternoon at The St. James indoor facility in the Virginia DMV.

KEY STATS

Mady Cheney broke through with four goals, adding her fifth hat trick in her career. She now has 95 career goals.
Ava LaManna made nine saves, including seven in the second period.
Aleese Warner scored her first collegiate goal on a free position shot in the third period.
The Patriots won 14 draw controls to Radford's six, while also winning the shots battle 31-20 and shots on goal 18-12.

PLAY BY PLAY
Radford found themselves in a quick 3-0 hole out of the gates, with George Mason getting good looks early. Cheney answered and did most of the work herself, breaking through several Patriot defenders for the season's first tally with 5:49 left in the first. Unfortunately for the Highlanders, the rest of the first went George Mason's way, as the hosts led 6-1 through 15 minutes.

LaManna headlined the second quarter by essentially standing on her head in net. The junior goalkeeper made save after save to keep the Patriots from adding on in the period. Meanwhile, Cheney and the Highlanders offense capitalized on several George Mason green cards to give the Texan her second goal of the day with 4:22 left before half. A late shot by Maddie Driscoll was saved, and Radford went into the break showing signs of improvement, down 6-2.

The Patriots began the second half like they started the first, scoring three times before Radford could answer. In the closing moments of a man-up opportunity, Hannah Hanger struck through for Radford's third goal with a nice assist from Maggie Wisniewski to make it 9-3 with 7:03 left in the third. After the defense got a stop, Warner scored from a free position shot from close range to make it a five goal game. Driscoll had a good chance a few minutes later on a free position shot that was saved, while George Mason scored again to make it 10-4 after three.

Needing a huge comeback, the Highlanders went to work. Cheney scored for a third time to make it 11-5 with just over 10 minutes left. Under five minutes left, she added a fourth, doing it all herself by sprinting past several defenders. Though the game was decided, Molly O'Brien began her graduate season with a horn-beating goal to make it a 12-7 final.

UP NEXT
The Highlanders host George Washington in the home opener on Saturday, February 21. The action begins at Noon from the SORC and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Follow Women's Lacrosse on Social Media
For more information on the Radford women's lacrosse team, follow @RadfordWLAX on X and Instagram or Radford Lacrosse on Facebook.
#WantItMore | #RiseAndDefend

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#11 Mady Cheney: Midfield; 5' 6"; Senior

#17 Hannah Hanger: Midfield; 5' 7"; Junior

#15 Ava LaManna: Goalkeeper; 5' 7"; Junior

#14 Maggie Wisniewski: Midfield; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#5 Aleese Warner: Defense; 5' 5"; Freshman

#21 Molly O'Brien: Attack; 5' 3"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

#11 Mady Cheney
: 5' 6"; Senior
: Midfield

#17 Hannah Hanger
: 5' 7"; Junior
: Midfield

#15 Ava LaManna
: 5' 7"; Junior
: Goalkeeper

#14 Maggie Wisniewski
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: Midfield

#5 Aleese Warner
: 5' 5"; Freshman
: Defense

#21 Molly O'Brien
: 5' 3"; Graduate Student
: Attack