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Salem defeated the visiting Rockbridge County High School boys lacrosse team 16-5 in the season opener for both schools on Monday of last week.
Andrew Crumpacker and Kaidan Garst tallied six points apiece to pace the Spartans. Crumpacker finished with four goals and two assists, while Garst totaled two goals and four helpers.
River Hull scored two goals, and Jack Jensen recorded 11 saves for the Wildcats. Trey Joyce added three goals and one assist for Salem, and Knox Fountain made 11 saves.
RC fell behind early, but goals from Zane Ramsey – the first career marker for the sophomore defensive midfielder – Hull and Alex Nye pulled the Wildcats to within four at 7-3. The Spartans would tack on two to their lead late in the second quarter, going into halftime ahead 9-3.
Jayden Layman and Andrew Kelly notched second-half goals for RC. Kelly also won 13-of-24 faceoffs in the game.
Though the underclassman-heavy Wildcats ultimately came up short against a veteran Salem squad that won last year’s Region 4D championship, RC head coach Robert Hull saw plenty of bright spots on the field.
“I’m proud of the effort that our student-athletes put forth from the first whistle to the final one,” Hull said.
The ’Cats might be young in terms of class year, but they return three second team all-region selections in senior midfielder River Hull, senior long stick midfielder Garrett Stillwell and Nye, a sophomore attackman.
Hull, Stillwell and classmate Colby Jarvis, a defenseman, will serve as team captains as RC looks to improve upon last season’s 6-9 finish.
“We continue to be extremely young, with three seniors and four juniors,” said Coach Hull, who’s entering his fifth season as the Wildcats’ mentor. “We do the best we can with the numbers we have, and are hopeful that the season will be a step forward from last year.”
RC will play host to Blacksburg tonight, Wednesday, with varsity action only at 6 p.m. The Wildcats travel to E.C. Glass on Thursday, with the junior varsity game slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. The RC varsity team will play at Christiansburg on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
