WA Still Has RC’s Number

Wildcats Fall To Warriors In Class 4 State Girls Lax Semis

Western Albemarle continues to have a steady supply of kryptonite at hand whenever a matchup with Rockbridge County High School rolls around in the Virginia High School League Class 4 state girls lacrosse tournament.

For the sixth straight time in the postseason – and the 11th occasion overall in as many meetings dating back to 2021 – the Warriors took down the Wildcats, securing a 16-11 win in the state semifinals in Crozet on Tuesday of last week.

Annie Alhusen had five goals and three assists to lead Western back to the state championship game, where the Warriors (17-1) earned a 14-6 win over Hannover (173) in Leesburg on Saturday to claim their fourth consecutive Class 4 state title.

Emma McKnight led RC (17-2) with five goals and one assist in last Tuesday’s semifinal matchup. Anna Nye posted three goals, two helpers, 11 draw controls and four caused turnovers for the Wildcats, while Lola Mulitalo finished with three goals and one assist.

Three other Warriors bagged hat tricks: Perry Hume and Skyler Luzar each tallied three goals and one assist, and Camille Love notched three markers. Maizey McCarthy made seven saves in goal for Western.

It was an unfortunately familiar ending to what has otherwise been another stellar season for RC. Since the start of the 2021 campaign, the Wildcats are winless against the Warriors – but a combined 92-1 against every other opponent.

“As a whole, we have a lot of great components – we have a lot of great players – and sometimes in games like these, we don’t trust ourselves the way we can,” McKnight said. “We’re a great team, and we’re fully capable of winning these games.”

Given how close the regularseason meeting was – Western held off a determined, albeit shorthanded, RC team for an 8-5 victory in Crozet back on March 24 – and how handily the Warriors claimed the title a few days later, there’s no doubt that this one will sting for the ’Cats, who will have to wait until next spring for another crack at that elusive state championship.

“This was a little bit tougher” to swallow, RC head coach Susan Nye said. “We knew that if we won the semifinals … that it was a very good percentage that we were winning the state.”

Neither team led by more than a single goal in the first period, with markers from McKnight and Anna Nye putting the Wildcats ahead 2-1 and 3-2. Hume knotted things up at 3-3 late in the frame.

Western proceeded to score the first three goals of the second quarter, taking the lead for good at 6-3. Mulitalo’s power-play goal at the 4:31 mark broke the Warriors’ run and pulled RC to within 6-4 going into halftime, but Mc-Carthy recorded three outstanding saves in the period to keep her team in front.

Western opened the second half with a 6-2 stretch, going ahead 12-6 on Eva Florin’s 8-meter goal with 3:28 remaining in the third quarter. An RC defensive unit that came in allowing a miserly 3.3 goals per game had a tough time handling the Warriors’ attack – especially several hard, low shots from dual-sport athletes who also compete on the field hockey team in the fall.

“We had been working on their low shots. That’s their bread and butter,” coach Nye said. “We would get a good stop, and then they would drop the stick, and that hockey shot was coming.”

But rather than fold, the Wildcats fought their way back into the game. With Anna Nye reeling off a string of draw circle wins, RC crafted a 4-0 spurt, getting two goals apiece from Nye and McKnight to pull within 12-10 with 11:22 left in the final stanza.

Though Mulitalo wasn’t directly involved in the run, the presence of the Wildcats’ alltime leading scorer on attack opened things up for her team to get back in the game.

“We really just figured out our groove with me and my friends Anna [Nye] and Mickey [Emma McKnight], and that just seemed to work,” Mulitalo said. “I thought we did a really good job … playing to the end, and really just staying positive.”

But the Warriors still had the answer, making a change in the draw circle that led to several key possessions in the fourth quarter. Without a shot clock in place in high school lacrosse, coach Nye knew that Western would go into clock-kill mode. Forced to abandon their zone defense to preclude an all-out stall – and having to gamble in an attempt to force turnovers – the Wildcats conceded four straight goals to fall behind 16-10.

“I knew when we got it to [a two-goal deficit], that the stall was going to happen,” coach Nye said. “I am in favor of the shot clock like you wouldn’t believe. We would have never pulled out of our zone if we had a shot clock.”

Mulitalo grabbed another goal at the 3:26 mark, but that was as close as the Wildcats would get as Western again proved to be the final – and impassable – roadblock for RC.

Marchelle Van Der Westhuizen posted one goal and two assists for the Warriors, and she also won several key draws in the fourth quarter. Laura Ingram collected three draw controls for the ’Cats, while Nadia Gaydos picked up two ground balls and Ellie McKnight registered two saves.

RC will graduate two seniors: Mulitalo, who set the program’s career records for goals and points, and Gaydos, a standout defender. Both players earned first-team All-Region 4D accolades this spring, and both will continue their academic and lacrosse careers at the collegiate level: Mulitalo with Division I school Kennesaw State University in George and Gaydos at Division III school Christopher Newport University in Newport News.

But seven all-region selections are slated to return for the Wildcats, who captured their sixth consecutive regional championship and advanced to the state semifinals for the sixth straight year – a streak that includes back-to-back runnerup finishes against Western in 2024 and 2025. Anna Nye, the two-time Region 4D player of the year, headlines a first-team contingent that also includes Emma McKnight, Tadara Cooper and Ingram. Meanwhile, Adrianna Grue, Ellie McKnight and Braelyn Polly all garnered second-team all-region laurels this spring.

RC has established quite the pipeline of lacrosse talent in recent years. According to Mulitalo, who started competing under the Wildcats’ umbrella with the Lex Lax Lightning youth program as a third-grader, the underlying culture might be the biggest key to the high school team’s sustained success.

“It means so much to be a part of a team that’s good – but also a team that means family, and something that’s just so well structured,” Mulitalo said. “Susan does a really good job with giving us confidence in every practice. … It’s a really good team and environment, and I just love it. It’s been so much fun.”

And with a bevy of talent returning to the fold next year, there’s every reason to think that the Wildcats will be back in the mix when the 2027 postseason rolls around.

“I am so excited for this upcoming season,” Emma McKnight said. “All of our girls are amazing, and one more season will really help everyone to grow and develop into themselves.”