The Rockbridge County High School girls soccer team split a pair of Valley District matches last week, suffering a 4-3 home loss to Turner Ashby last Tuesday before coasting to a 6-0 road win over Rocktown on Friday.
In an intense showdown with TA (5-4-0 overall, 4-2-0 district), the Wildcats (3-3-0 overall and district) battled back from a 2-0 deficit but came up short.
After the Knights took a 3-2 lead when Aubrey Eberly scored with 3:55 left, Sofia Smith answered back for the Wildcats by kicking in a goal from long range, on an assist from Lucy Boller-Pinkham, to tie the game with 2:33 left. In the closing moments, the Knights got a corner kick and scored the winning goal on a header from Sofia Garber.
“It was a long, hard fight,” said RC head coach Danny Wheeler. “We made a costly mistake. It cost us a goal. Then there at the end, we had someone unmarked, and they scored a goal, so two fundamental errors that resulted in goals.”
“Great battle,” added Wheeler. “We really showed what we’re capable of in the second half. I feel we’re a much better team than [how] we played tonight. Just some fundamental errors, but it’s early in the season.”
Earlier in the game, the Knights had kept the ball in their offense for most of the first half. TA’s Stella Hughes scored to give the visitors a 1-0 lead with about 19 minutes left in the first half. After several saves by RC sophomore goalkeeper Caden Marshall, Eberly scored by booting the ball from Marshall’s left side to make it 2-0 with about two minutes left in the first half. Just before halftime, RC’s Boller-Pinkham scored on the run to cut TA’s lead to 2-1.
About midway through the second half, with the Wildcats playing more aggressively, RC’s Madelyn Jones scored from TA goalkeeper Katie Herrell’s right side to tie the game 2-2. Both defenses stepped up until the final series of goals.
Marshall made eight saves for the Wildcats, while Herrell collected five saves for the Knights.
Wheeler said Marshall “was great in the net tonight. Outstanding performance. She was left stranded twice.”
Offensively, Wheeler said, “Our transitions need to be sharper. Knowing what we know about this team, we’ll work on our shifts and play more to the right side of the field.”
RC 6, Rocktown 0
The Wildcats bounced back with a 6-0 road win over Rocktown (0-8-1, 0-4-1) in the rain on Friday night in Harrisonburg.
Madelyn Jones led RC with three goals and took nine shots, Boller-Pinkham scored two goals and took eight shots, and Emily Jones had one goal and took two shots. Boller-Pinkham and Lydia Kendall each dished out an assist.
In goal, Marshall made one save for the Wildcats.
Pleased with the win, Wheeler said it was “a total team effort.” He said some of his players were put in different positions, and they responded well.
“Outstanding team performance,” added Wheeler. “”Intensity for the whole game was the key, and the girls are just hungry to score. There is a trend taking place that when they score once, they have the tendency to keep going.”
The RC coach said he was pleased his players are looking strong and staying healthy overall early in the season.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play host to Broadway last night and will continue district action at home against Spotswood on Friday before playing at William Monroe on Tuesday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m. on both nights, with varsity action scheduled to follow at 7.
RC SENIOR forward Madelyn Jones dribbles toward the goal as TA goalkeeper Katie Herrell protects the net. Jones scored one goal. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
RC SENIOR midfielder Sofia Smith kicks the ball forward while closely guarded. Smith scored a goal late to tie the game 3-3 before TA scored the winning goal. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
