Friday, June 5 -- The Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team booked a spot in the VHSL Class 4 state semifinals with a convincing 20-5 quarterfinal win over Loudoun Valley at The Fields at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista.
Lola Mulitalo scored a career-high nine goals and added two assists as the Wildcats (17-1) advanced to the semifinal round for the sixth consecutive season. Next up for RC is another matchup with Western Albemarle (16-1-1), the three-time defending state champions, in Crozet on Tuesday.
Emma McKnight added five goals and two assists for the Wildcats, who entered the Class 4 bracket as the Region 4D champions. Anna Nye tallied three goals and four assists and spurred RC to another dominant performance on the draw circle.
Alexis Lutz scored three goals and Jordan Phillips posted three assists for the Vikings (10-8), who came in as the runners-up from Region 4C. Frankie Cavalieri made nine saves in goal for Loudoun Valley, which was making just its second state tournament appearance in the last 12 seasons.
RC tallied the first four goals of the game, getting two markers apiece from Mulitalo and McKnight -- with all four scores coming in a span of just 58 seconds -- to assume a 4-0 advantage with 9:57 to play in the opening quarter. The Vikings battled back to within 5-2 on a goal from Sadie Blackmon at the 6:53 mark.
But the Wildcats quickly flipped a switch, stretching the gap to 9-2 by the end of the quarter. RC then cashed in for three goals -- including two from Mulitalo -- on a Loudoun Valley yellow card early in the second quarter, going on to lead 16-2 at the half. The 'Cats were up 20-3 by the end of the third quarter before a pair of late Viking goals cut into the final margin.
Laura Ingram added one goal and two assists for RC, while Adrianna Grue and Sadie Edwards also scored. Ellie McKnight played the first three quarters in goal for the Wildcats, recording three saves with three goals allowed.
RC has fallen to Western in each of the past five state tournaments: three straight years in the semifinals from 2021-2023, as well as the Class 4 title game in each of the past two seasons. Start time for the latest Wildcats-Warriors matchup will be announced later.
