With a dominant second half, the Rockbridge County High School boys soccer team opened the season with a 5-2 road win over Shenandoah District rival Wilson Memorial on Friday night in Fishersville.
Junior forward Cooper Fox recorded a hat trick for the Wildcats, leading all scorers with three goals, while junior midfielder Charlie Cosgriff scored one goal and dished out three assists. Second-year RC head coach Jeffrey Tomlin said Cosgriff was “really creative and really direct.”
Just four minutes into the game, Cosgriff took the ball down the sideline, beat his defender and cut in from the right side to score. The Wildcats went up 2-0 when Cosgriff assisted on a goal by Fox. The Green Hornets responded with a goal on a free kick at the end of the first half to cut the lead to 2-1.
Early in the second half, WM tied the game 2-2 by scoring off a corner kick, but the Green Hornets wouldn’t score again.
RC junior forward Juan Kim got a through ball and found Fox in the middle, who took one touch and put the ball in the goal to give RC a 3-2 lead. Fox scored again to extend the lead to 4-2. For the Wildcats’ final goal, Cooper passed to junior striker Alex Salvador, and Salvador converted.
In addition to his team’s offense, Tomlin praised the Wildcats’ defensive effort, especially by junior defender Jonathan Soriano Caceres. Playing at right outside back, Caceres contained WM’s main offensive weapon, Cesar Carranza Hernandez. “He did a good job,” said Tomlin of Caceres.
The Wildcats look to improve on last year’s 2-14 record. RC graduated nine seniors from last year. This year, they have five seniors and 14 juniors. Serving as cocaptains are senior midfielder Noah Alexander and junior midfielder Jonathan Roy.
Returning as an assistant coach for the Wildcats is Mark Roeder. After seven years in the Valley District, the Wildcats have switched to the Shenandoah District. Tomlin is confident the Wildcats will be more competitive in the Shenandoah, after facing a lot of teams “with a tremendous amount of talent” in the Valley.
The Wildcats will continue district action on Friday at Staunton before their home opener against district rival Waynesboro on Tuesday. Both nights are scheduled to start with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m., with varsity action slated to follow at 7.
