RC Girls Laxers Survive Blacksburg, Crush Glass
The Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team continued its winning ways last week, surviving a road test at Blacksburg before returning home to cruise by E.C. Glass on Senior Night.
The Wildcats (9-2) have now won eight straight games overall.
On Thursday, six different RC players registered at least three points as the ’Cats defeated the Hilltoppers 20-7. Anna Nye tallied four goals, two assists and 17 draw controls for the home side, while Emma McKnight and Ruby Goodhart each finished with two goals and four assists. Emma Johnson had three goals and two assists for the Wildcats, with Josie Caldwell and Brianna Roberts also notching hat tricks.
Kate Lasitter paced Glass (6-5) with two goals, one assist, three draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers.
Prior to the contest, RC honored its seven seniors: Caldwell, Roberts, Caitie Carrington, London Garrett, Emily Humphreys, Alyssa Hunter and Elizabeth McCormick. Nearly all seven were crucial to the Wildcats’ win, with Hunter recording six saves in goal and Carrington, Humphreys and McCormick all making plays on defense to complement Caldwell and Roberts’ contributions on attack.
“It’s so special when … the seniors are able to provide an impact on both the offensive and defensive end,” RC head coach Susan Nye said.
The Wildcats scored the first four goals of the game, taking a 4-0 advantage on McKnight’s 8-meter conversion at the 5:36 mark of the first quarter. Leading 7-2 midway through the second period, RC reeled off the final four markers of the first half to carry an 11-2 cushion into the break.
Goodhart opened the scoring in the second half, and her marker with 9:09 to go in the third period activated the running clock at 12-2. The Wildcats’ lead never dipped below 10 for the rest of the night.
Despite the absence of star attacker Lola Mulitalo – the junior, who set the program’s career points record in RC’s 14-5 win over Salem on May 1, left the first quarter of last Monday’s game at Blacksburg with an injury – the ’Cats maintained their offensive rhythm with a balanced effort.
“Offensively, we’ve got some players that are just getting more and more confident – not only in their placement of shots, but also with our feeding,” said Coach Nye, who went on to praise the play of one of her sophomore attackers. “Emma Johnson, her feeds are just getting right to the stick, and it’s just making her assists incredible,” the RC coach added.
McCormick, Nadia Gaydos and Tadara Cooper chipped in one goal apiece for RC, while Carrington posted two caused turnovers and McKnight also secured two draw controls. Alexa Perdieu tallied three takeaways to lead the Hilltoppers’ defense, while Alex Petty had one goal and three draw controls.
Another large and impactful senior class shows the ongoing effectiveness of the Lex Lax Lightning youth program, which continues to surge in popularity. Caldwell, Humphreys and Roberts have been playing since a very young age, with the other seniors joining up along the way.
“It’s been nice to see them start as young girls, and now they’ve become part of our program,” Coach Nye said. “It’s been pretty incredible.”
RC 13, Blacksburg 7
RC secured a 13-7 road win over previously unbeaten Blacksburg in a rematch of last year’s Region 4D championship game last Monday.
McKnight paced the Wildcat offense with five goals. Goodhart bagged a hat trick, and Nye contributed three assists and 10 draw controls as RC survived the early injury to Mulitalo.
“It was great to see our offense step it up with the loss of [Mulitalo] and her attacking skills,” Coach Nye said.
RC also put together an impressive performance on the defensive end, where Nye broke her own single- game school record by posting a whopping 10 caused turnovers. The Wildcats totaled 21 ground balls, getting six from Nye, four from Braelyn Polly and three apiece from Gaydos and Humphreys. Hunter registered seven saves in goal as RC handed the Bruins (10-1) their first loss of the season.
“Our defense was where this game was won,” Coach Nye said.
The Wildcats will wrap up the regular season at home against Patrick Henry next Monday, with the varsity game only scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
