Staunton Edges RC Girls, 3-2

Wildcats Test Storm With Strong Second Half

With an impressive effort against a talented squad, the Rockbridge County High School girls soccer team came up short 3-2 to Shenandoah District rival Staunton on Thursday night in Lexington.

The showdown was much different than last year, when Staunton had cruised to an 8-0 win over the Wildcats.

With last Thursday’s victory, the Storm improved to 2-0, while the Wildcats fell to 0-2, both overall and in the district.

Staunton controlled possession and the pace of play in the first half. The Storm led 2-0 at halftime, pressuring the RC defense for most of the half.

Neenah Meidl scored Staunton’s first goal on an assist from Chloe Simmons, and Zaira Andrade scored the second goal, assisted by Meidl.

RC head coach Carrie Dietz said her team’s defensive effort continued from page A8

Soccer

in the first half was flat. About six minutes into the second half, Staunton’s Brook-Lyn Kittrell dribbled her way from midfield past the Wildcats’ defense to score an unassisted goal.

The Wildcats’ defense stepped up the rest of the way. Junior Caden Marshall made an excellent save with 30 minutes left in the game that sparked her team.

Dietz said the halftime adjustments helped the Wildcats find their stride. “They started playing more as a unit,” she said. “It just became more team focused play than we had in the first half.”

The Wildcats and Storm traded possessions back and forth in the second half until sophomore Allison Licona-Asto scored the first RC goal of the season with about 11 minutes left.

Junior Lucy Boller-Pinkham scored the last goal for the Wildcats on a penalty kick late in the game.

Dietz said her forwards are an impeccable unit. “Anna Feldman and Lucy Boller-Pinkham, they really work well together, and they have figured out that they can draw the defense and open it up for other players,” she said.

The RC coach said that the biggest thing her team is working to improve is communication. “We need to talk so that we can talk about the tactics of the game and how the game is going,” said Dietz.

The Wildcats were scheduled to play at Waynesboro last night and will continue district action at home against Stuarts Draft on Thursday before playing at Buffalo Gap on Monday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m. on both nights.