RC Girls Laxers Make State For Sixth Straight Year
The top-seeded Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team defeated fourthseeded E.C. Glass 17-9 in a Region 4D semifinal game that spanned two nights, wrapping up on Thursday at The Fields at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista.
The Wildcats (15-1) have now qualified for the Virginia High School League Class 4 state tournament for the sixth consecutive season. They were slated to play host to No. 3 seed Salem (123) in the regional final in Buena Vista last night.
In last week’s regional semifinal, the ’Cats 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 the next night, RC built up a 14-1 halftime advantage, though the Hilltoppers (7-8) played a competitive second half as the Wildcats spread playing time across most of their roster.
Emma McKnight paced RC’s 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 registered 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 thanks to a monster first quarter from McKnight, who scored five goals in the frame. Nye tallied one goal and four assists in the period as well.
The 24-hour pause allowed the ’Cats to refocus their energy – and to simulate the way they want to start a contest when they came back out on Thursday, even if the scoreboard showed period No. 2 when the contest resumed.
“We were able to do the first quarter twice,” RC head coach Susan Nye said. “The first quarter is just so important to get your rhythm, to get the motion of the game – to really keep possession of the ball and not have turnovers.”
After play restarted, 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. And having a sizeable working margin allowed the Wildcats to get some valuable postseason experience for several of the younger athletes on their roster.
“I am so thankful that we can get to a running clock, and then all of the players get some opportunity to play,” coach Nye said. “When they’re on the field against a different team, they just get confidence – and they get that gamelike [experience] that we can’t sometimes replicate in practice.”
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.
The Wildcats have become a fixture in the Class 4 girls lacrosse bracket in recent years. But after five straight trips to the semifinals, including backto- back championship game appearances, they’re hoping to take the next step as the postseason progresses this spring.
“It’s become an expectation now” to qualify for the state tournament, coach Nye said. “Our goal every year is to make it to the state – but not only just make it, but to win it. I’m hoping this is going to be the year.”
The state quarterfinals are slated for Friday evening; a win in Tuesday’s regional final means the Wildcats would host their quarterfinal game at SVU. Visit www.thenews-gazette.com for the latest details about RC’s postseason run.
