New Goalkeeper Marshall Makes 10 Saves For Wildcats
Starting the season against a tough opponent, the Rockbridge County High School girls soccer team suffered a 5-1 home loss to Valley District rival William Monroe on Friday night in Lexington.
The Wildcats got a strong performance from sophomore goalkeeper Caden Marshall, playing the entire game and making 10 saves in her varsity debut, but the Green Dragons (4-0 overall, 1-0 district) kept the ball in their offense for the vast majority of the game. With their roster loaded with year-round players, the Dragons scored four of their five goals in the first half.
Commending Marshall, who was a goalkeeper for the Wildcats’ junior varsity team last year, RC head coach Danny Wheeler said, ““She showed resilience, kept the defense going, motivated.”
“Everyone played well,” added Wheeler, starting his second season as RC’s head coach. “It’s just that our competitor was that good.”
WM got on the board when Catelyn Franssen made a shot on the run with a bit under 18 minutes left in the half. Franssen scored again about five minutes later, and Alex Levoie extended the Dragons’ lead to 3-0 with about nine minutes left. RC’s lone shot on goal in the first half came from Lucy Boller-Pinkham with about 7:30 left, but WM goalkeeper Alexandra Devory stopped it.
In the closing moments of the first half, Nicole Aasland made a shot from Marshall’s left side to give the Dragons a 4-0 lead going into halftime.
After stoppages due to hurt players in the first 15 minutes of the second half, the Wildcats scored their only goal when Madelyn Jones made a shot from Devory’s left side with about 22 minutes left in the game. It was RC’s only shot on goal in the second half.
The Dragons quickly responded with the final goal of the game on a shot by Sadie Williams.
Reviewing his team’s performance, Wheeler said, “Our team played very well as a team, as well as individually. I can’t really ask more of them than what they did.”
The Wildcats return eight players from last year’s team, which had the program’s best season in six years, going 8-9 overall and 6-6-0 in the Valley District. RC qualified for the Region 3C tournament, ending its season with a 12-0 loss at Western Albemarle, the Class 3 state runner-up last year.
From last year’s team, the Wildcats graduated four seniors, led by goalkeeper Sophia Perlozzo, who made more than 300 saves during her career. Also graduating were defender Nellie Orrison, forward Sophie Vaught and forward/midfielder Faith Walker.
RC has three co-captains this year, all returning seniors: forward Madelyn Jones, midfielder Lydia Kendall and defender Madeline Swisher. All three were all-district selections last year, and Jones, a prolific scorer, was named to the all-region first team.
“They took the lead tonight as captains do, doing an excellent job of keeping everyone’s intensity up and motivating players,” said Wheeler. “A lot of peer coaching going on tonight.” The Wildcats have six seniors, eight juniors and three sophomores. In addition to the co-captains, the seniors, all returning, are defender Brooke Eichelberger, midfielder Sofia Smith and Emily Boling, both a defender and midfielder.
All of the juniors are new to the varsity level, with some bringing JV experience with them: Alice Gresham, Reese Havird and Karla Macedo are defenders, Cara Conway and Elsa Kerin-Rice are midfielders, while Briana Itehua-Lopez, Sarah Seay and Addison Littlefair- Small play both midfield and defense.
Joining Marshall in the sophomore class are Boller-Pinkham, a forward who was an all-district first-team selection last year, and returning midfielder Emily Jones.
Returning to serve as an assistant coach for the Wildcats is Carrie Dietz, while Courtney Smith joins the coaching staff as a volunteer assistant coach.
Looking forward to the season, Wheeler said, “The team is coming together well.”
The Wildcats were scheduled to play at Spotswood last night and will continue district action at East Rockingham on Monday before playing at Harrisonburg on Tuesday, starting at 5:30 p.m. on both nights.
WILDCAT SOPHOMORE forward Lucy Boller-Pinkham boots the ball past a WM player. Boller-Pinkham had one shot on goal. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
RC SENIOR forward Madelyn Jones (9) dribbles past a Green Dragon while Wildcat defender Madeline Swisher (3) approaches. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
