Battling back from a 2-1 deficit, the Rockbridge County High School boys soccer team earned a 3-2 road win over Stuarts Draft on Thursday night.
The Wildcats, who were coming off a 3-0 home loss to Waynesboro two days earlier, improved to 2-2 overall and in the district.
Against Draft (also 2-2 overall and district), junior forward Cooper Fox scored all three of the Wildcats’ goals.
The Wildcats dominated possession in the first 15 minutes. About 10 minutes into the game, RC’s Charlie Cosgriff fired a shot, and Fox collected the rebound and put the ball in the goal to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
The Cougars answered when star senior Jaime Loya scored to tie the game at 1-1. Later in the half, Loya picked up the ball in midfield and took a long shot from 30 yards out that went into the top left end of the goal, giving Draft a 2-1 lead.
With about 10 minutes left in the first half, RC’s Carlos Reynolds tossed the ball to Fox, who then put the ball in the goal to tie the game at 2-2.
The score stayed there until about 20 minutes left in the game when RC’s Jonathan Roy got the ball with some space and found Fox in midfield. Fox was then one-on-one with the Draft goalkeeper and made a move to catch the goalkeeper off guard before scoring the winning goal.
RC head coach Jeffrey Tomlin said the game was “probably a little bit harder than it needed to be,” but he’s glad his team pulled through for the victory.
The RC coach praised the efforts of RC midfielders Noah Alexander and Colin Caputoa and defenders Brennan Roeder, Jonathan Whitten, Colin Murphy and Tate Mayo. In goal, senior Patrick De Marcellus made four saves.
WHS 3, RC 0
Playing one of the top teams in the Shenandoah District, the Wildcats lost 3-0 to Waynesboro (4-1 overall, 4-0 district) on Tuesday of last week in Lexington.
Going into the season in a new district, Tomlin said he expected Waynesboro and Staunton, a team that the Wildcats suffered a 2-0 loss to five days earlier, to be “really strong teams.”
Waynesboro’s David Madrid scored in the 22nd minute to give the Little Giants a 1-0 lead. Late in the half, Fox received a through ball and took a shot that narrowly missed.
In the first 15 minutes of the second half, the Little Giants scored again to extend their lead to 2-0. Waynesboro added its final goal late in the second half. In goal, De Marcellus made six saves.
Reviewing the game, Tomlin said, “I thought we had some moments of good soccer against Waynesboro. I knew they were going to transition well.”
The Wildcats were scheduled to play host to Buffalo Gap on Monday. After spring break, the Wildcats will continue district play at home against Riverheads on Tuesday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m., with the varsity game scheduled to follow at 7.
