Friday, June 6 -- The Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team coasted to a 23-6 victory over John Champe in the VHSL Class 4 state quarterfinals in Lexington.
Four different Wildcats posted at least seven points to power RC (14-2) into the state semifinals for the fifth consecutive season. The Region 4D champion 'Cats will play host to Region 4A winner Powhatan in the semifinal round on Tuesday.
Lola Mulitalo led RC's quarterfinal effort with 12 points, totaling seven goals and five assists, while Josie Caldwell had seven goals and one helper. Ruby Goodhart recorded four goals and three assists, and Anna Nye tallied three goals, four assists and 16 draw controls.
Maddie Choi had two goals and five draw controls for the Knights (12-6), who finished as the Region 4C runners-up, while Leah Belev notched one goal and two assists.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 3-0 lead behind goals from Goodhart, Mulitalo and Caldwell. April Kim got John Champe on the board with 3:42 remaining in the first quarter, and a free-position marker from Choi made it 3-2 at the 2:45 mark.
But Emma McKnight scored just 25 seconds later, kickstarting an 8-0 RC run. Goodhart's third goal of the game capped the spurt and made it 11-2 with 4:15 left in the second period, and the Wildcats would take a 13-4 advantage into halftime.
Belev opened the scoring in the second half before back-to-back goals from Mulitalo pushed the 'Cats' margin to 15-5 with 7:54 to go in the third stanza. While a goal from the Knights' Delaney Neal with 6:44 to play made it 15-6, that would prove to be the final offense of the night for the visitors, and RC closed the contest with another string of eight unanswered markers.
McKnight finished with one goal and two assists for RC, while Adrianna Grue added one goal and Mulitalo snared four draw controls. Neal finished with one goal and one assist for John Champe, and Bella Pulise collected two draws.
The Wildcats outshot the Knights 35-12, posted a 21-10 advantage on the draw circle, and held a 15-5 edge in ground balls.
Tuesday's semifinal contest against Powhatan is slated for a 6 p.m. start.
