Starting the season against a tough opponent, the Rockbridge County High School girls soccer team suffered a 5-1 home loss to Valley District rival William Monroe on Friday night in Lexington.
The Wildcats got a strong performance from sophomore goalkeeper Caden Marshall, playing the entire game and making 10 saves in her varsity debut, but the Green Dragons (4-0 overall, 1-0 district) kept the ball in their offense for the vast majority of the game. With their roster loaded with year-round players, the Dragons scored four of their five goals in the first half.
Most of the first half was scoreless, but WM got on the board when Catelyn Franssen made a shot on the run with a bit under 18 minutes left in the half. Franssen scored again about five minutes later, and Alex Levoie extended the Dragons’ lead to 3-0 with about nine minutes left. RC’s lone shot on goal in the first half came from sophomore forward Lucy Boller-Pinkham with about 7:30 left, but WM goalkeeper Alexandra Devory stopped it.
In the closing moments of the first half, Nicole Aasland made a shot from Marshall’s left side to give the Dragons a 4-0 lead going into halftime.
After stoppages due to hurt players in the first 15 minutes of the second half, the Wildcats scored their only goal when senior forward Madelyn Jones made a shot on the road from Devory’s left side with about 22 minutes left in the game. It was RC’s only shot on goal in the second half.
The Dragons quickly responded with the final goal of the game on a shot by Sadie Williams.
The Wildcats will continue district play at Spotswood on Tuesday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m.
For the full story and photos from the opener, please see our April 9 newspaper.
