Fox’s Hat Trick Leads Wildcats Past Alleghany, 6-1
With a dominant second half, the Rockbridge County High School boys soccer team earned a 6-1 home win over Shenandoah District rival Alleghany on Friday night in Lexington.
The Wildcats improved to 6-2-0, while the Cougars fell to 3-5-1, both overall and in the district. RC extended its winning streak to five games.
Junior forward Cooper Fox continued to prove himself to be the Wildcats’ main offensive weapon, leading RC with three goals. Through Friday’s game, Fox has scored 14 goals this season to lead RC.
RC head coach Jeffrey Tomlin said he was expecting Alleghany to be a tough opponent because they had beaten Fort Defiance 4-3 on Tuesday of last week, and the Wildcats had eked out a 2-1 road win over Fort on April 16. “I figured they’d be riding high with a lot of confidence,” said Tomlin of the Cougars.
From the start, the Wildcats possessed the ball well. “That’s been the goal, to wear teams down,” said Tomlin.
About 13 minutes into the game, RC midfielder Tate Mayo found forward Parker Fountain open near the goal, and Fountain scored to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Neither team scored for the rest of the half.
“Coming out of halftime, I challenged the guys to put on the gas a little more,” said Tomlin. “I asked the guys to be a little aggressive.”
The Wildcats’ players responded well. At the start of the second half, Fox scored on an assist by midfielder Dante Kelly. Three minutes later, midfielder Charlie Cosgriff used the outside of his foot to curl the ball into the back of the net, extending the Wildcats’ lead to 3-0.
The Wildcats scored their next goal with about 23 minutes left when Fox converted on an assist from midfielder Jonathan Roy.
Alleghany scored on a throw-in midway through the second half, but RC center back Brennan Roeder took a free kick and found forward Carlos Reynolds, who put the ball in the back of the net. Tomlin said Roeder has “a wand of a right foot… He has such good delivery, so much curve.”
In the last two minutes of the game, the Wildcats scored their final goal when Roeder took another free kick that went over the Alleghany goalkeeper, and Fox put the ball in the goal.
RC goalkeeper Jacob Wallace played the first half and made two saves, and Patrick De Marcellus played the second half and made one save.
Tomlin said he “challenged the midfielders to play better transition moments defensively. If Alleghany was going to get us, it was going to be when we lost the ball. I think that’s a big reason that Jacob and Pat stayed clean.”
The RC coach also credited Roeder and Jonathan Whitten for strong defense to help the Wildcats pick up their recent wins.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play host to Staunton last night and will play at Waynesboro on Friday before playing host to Stuarts Draft on Tuesday. Both nights will start with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m., with varsity games scheduled to follow at 7.
WILDCAT JUNIOR forward Cooper Fox leaps to stop the ball. Fox led the Wildcats with three goals. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
ALLEGHANY’S KEVIN Whorley (30) battles RC junior defender Jonathan Whitten (center) for the ball while RC junior forward Parker Fountain (9) stays close. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
