Thursday, May 28 -- The top-seeded Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team defeated fourth-seeded E.C. Glass 17-9 in a Region 4D semifinal game that spanned two nights at The Fields at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista.
The Wildcats (15-1) were leading 10-1 at the end of the first quarter when the contest was halted on Wednesday due to lightning in the vicinity. Once play resumed on Thursday, RC built up a 14-1 halftime lead, though the Hilltoppers (7-8) played a competitive second half as the 'Cats spread playing time around across most of their roster.
RC will take on third-seeded Salem (12-3) in the Region 4D championship in Buena Vista on Tuesday. Both the Wildcats and the Spartans have now qualified for the VHSL Class 4 state tournament.
Emma McKnight paced RC's regional semifinal effort with six goals. Anna Nye recorded two goals, seven assists and 15 draw controls for the Wildcats, while Laura Ingram notched four goals, one assist and four draws.
Three players accounted for all of the Hilltoppers' offense: Reed Marks had four goals, Alex Petty notched a hat trick, and Kate Lassiter posted two goals and two assists.
The Wildcats jumped out to a huge lead in the Wednesday portion of the game. McKnight scored five goals in the opening quarter, and Nye tallied one goal and four of her assists.
After play got back underway on Thursday, Ingram scored all four of her goals in the second period. Glass opened the third quarter with four straight goals, including a pair of markers from Petty, before Nye broke the run and made it 15-5. Though the Hilltoppers closed the gap down to eight in the final minutes of the game, they never seriously threatened the RC lead.
Lola Mulitalo chipped in two goals and one assist for the Wildcats. RC also got one goal apiece from Sofia Gaydos, Adrianna Grue and Sarah Edgar.
Game time for Tuesday's Region 4D championship at SVU is slated for 6 p.m. In the regular-season meeting on May 13, the Wildcats defeated the Spartans 14-1 in Salem.
