William Monroe defeated the Rockbridge County High School boys soccer team 4-0 in a Valley District matchup in Lexington on Tuesday of last week The Dragons (8-3-2 overall, 6-2-2 district) scored twice late in the first half to open up a 2-0 lead, and they added a pair of tallies after the break in completing a season sweep of the Wildcats (2-8-0, 1-8-0), who suffered their sixth consecutive loss. WM defeated RC 2-1 in Stanardsville in the first meeting between the two teams back on April 4.
In last Tuesday’s contest, Eliot McDonald and Patrick De Marcellus each played 40 minutes in goal for the Wildcats. McDonald notched six stops in the first half, and De Marcellus registered nine saves across the second stanza.
The Dragons went in front for good in the 36th minute. Jason Rodriguez’s initial attempt clanged off the post, but Gustavo Gomez’s follow-up chance deflected in off of an RC defender.
WM scored again in the 37th minute, with Gio Marquez heading home Rodriguez’s corner kick to send the visitors into halftime with a 2-0 advantage.
“We just made two simple errors that led to a goal, and they’re fixable – but it’s two simple mistakes,” said RC head coach Jeff Tomlin, who was pleased that his team didn’t abandon the game plan despite falling behind. “I’m really happy that we stayed disciplined after the two goals went in, and we still played a possession base,” Tomlin added.
Still, the Dragons would generate some additional offense in the second half. Jason Amaya extended the margin to 3-0 in the 45th minute, sinking a long shot-cross from the right touchline.
The Wildcats’ best chance of the game came two minutes later, when Jonathan Roy made a great run into the 18-yard box, only to see his attempted centering feed broken up and cleared away.
Jacob Floyd completed the scoring with just over 10 minutes remaining, firing home from 10 yards out from the right side of the box.
For the match, WM outshot RC 35-5 and held a 13-1 advantage in corner kicks. The final score might have tilted even further in the Dragons’ favor if not for some solid goalkeeping from both McDonald and De Marcellus.
“[McDonald is] our senior captain; he kept us in it. Both of the goals [in the first half] were very difficult to deal with,” Tomlin said. “[De Marcellus] made a lot of saves in the second half; I was very happy with him. I think he’s going to have a bright future ahead of him in goal.”
The Wildcats’ match at Harrisonburg, originally scheduled for Friday, was moved to Monday evening. RC was slated to take on East Rockingham at home last night, and the ’Cats will continue district action at home against Turner Ashby on Friday before playing at Rocktown on Tuesday, beginning with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m. on both nights.
WILLIAM MONROE’S Johnny Marquez goes to the ground as RC senior Noah Carroll tries to maintain possession of the ball and Wildcat sophomore midfielder Charlie Cosgriff (17) follows. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
RC SOPHOMORE midfielder Jonathan Roy (2) races WM’s Johnny Marquez to the ball. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
