Tuesday, June 2 - The top-seeded Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team cruised past No. 3 seed Salem to capture a 22-2 victory in the Region 4D championship game at The Fields at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista.
The Wildcats (16-1) secured their sixth consecutive regional title and earned a home quarterfinal game in the VHSL Class 4 state tournament. RC will take on Loudoun Valley (10-7), the Region 4C runners-up, at 7 p.m. Friday at SVU.
Three players combined for 21 of the Wildcats' 22 goals in Tuesday's game: Lola Mulitalo notched eight goals and one assist, Emma McKnight totaled seven markers and one helper, and Anna Nye finished with six goals and five assists -- surpassing 300 career points in the process. Adrianna Grue scored the other RC goal and added a pair of assists.
Nye also paced the defensive effort with five caused turnovers. Laura Ingram posted a game-high six draw controls for the 'Cats, while Emma McKnight snared five. Ellie McKnight played the full game in goal and recorded three saves.
Vivienne Eaton and Madison Southern scored for the Spartans (12-4), who will travel to Region 4C champion Dominion for the state quarterfinals. Rylee McNeill had five draw controls for Salem, while goalie Bailey Redford registered five saves and four caused turnovers.
RC led by a narrow 3-2 margin after Southern scored at the 7:17 mark of the first quarter. But the Wildcats quickly turned on the afterburners, stretching the margin out to 10-2 by the end of the period and assuming a 16-2 halftime advantage.
For the game, RC held a 29-8 advantage in shots and a 19-9 edge on the draw circle. The Wildcats also converted on 6-of-7 chances from the 8-meter arc, and they forced 17 Salem turnovers.
The 'Cats are now in search of their sixth straight state semifinal appearance. The winner of Friday's game will take on either Western Albemarle or Powhatan in the Class 4 semifinal round.
