CONWAY, S.C. – A young Longwood women's lacrosse side opened its 2026 campaign on the road at Coastal Carolina on Friday afternoon.
 
Madison Rogers, a sophomore, led Longwood (0-1) with a career-high four goals to go with one assist, but the Chanticleers (1-0) had four goals apiece from Nikki Seven and Alexandra Horn to pull past Longwood 19-10.
 
SCORING:
 
               1             2             3             4             FINAL
LWU      2             2             3             3             10
CCU       5             2             6             6             19
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Coastal Carolina came out strong to start the game and jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Longwood settled down and started to wedge back into the contest.
 
Junior Jordan Fitzgerald had the opening goal of the season for the Lancers with 6:09 to go in the first quarter, and sophomore Montgomery Bedford cut it to 4-2 a few minutes later off a feed from Rogers.
 
The Chanticleers pushed the lead out to five, but Longwood's defense started to slow down the Coastal attack. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald again ended the run with a free position goal, and sophomore Bailey Stratton cut it back to three with her first goal of the season.
 
After halftime, Longwood pulled within two on back-to-back strikes from Rogers, who scored all three Longwood goals in the third period. However, Coastal Carolina slowly pulled away and created separation in the final 20 minutes of game action.
 
Charlotte Sadler earned the win in goal for Coastal Carolina after making four saves, and Isabella McCullough took the loss. She had six saves.

WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"Today we learned a lot," said Longwood Head Coach Dwayne Hicks. "I'm really proud of the team for how they played. We haven't been outside in two weeks and played a full game. It wasn't our best, but we'll get better. We went down 4-0 and kept our composure, which is a good sign that we have more experienced players who can rally back and win the momentum. All we need is some good weather and practice on a full field. This team will grow."
 
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
 

• The four goals were a career high for Rogers, and she had a hat trick in the third quarter after scoring 13 goals as a freshman
• Fitzgerald had two goals and a team-best two draw controls for Longwood
• Zenie Newsome led the Lancer defense with four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers
• Evelyn Kitchin led all players with 14 draw controls for Coastal Carolina

 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood stays on the road with a trip to William & Mary next weekend. The opening draw is set for noon in Williamsburg.
 
#GoWood #HorsePower