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The Rockbridge County High School girls soccer team dropped a pair of nondistrict games in the first week of the season, falling 1-0 at home against Fort Defiance on Thursday night before suffering a 6-0 road lost to Staunton on Friday.
In a season opener ruled by defense, Fort Defiance (2-0) scored on a penalty kick late in the second overtime.
RC junior goalkeeper Sophia Perlozzo made seven saves in the game, but the Indians finally got past her when Emma Staley’s penalty kick went off the crossbar and just into the goal in the closing minutes.
After the game, third-year head coach B.J. Flack praised his players for stepping up defensively to challenge Fort, which had captured 1-0 and 8-0 wins over the Wildcats last year. “We worked on defending in the post since our two scrimmages, and it definitely showed because we committed,” said Flack. “They did a great job tonight. It wasn’t fair to lose like that.”
Flack said Perlozzo has shown significant improvement in her return as the Wildcats’ starting goalkeeper. Perlozzo, an all-district second team selection, missed the end of last season due to an injury. Flack credited new RC assistant coach Jeffrey Tomlin for helping with that improvement. “Coach Tomlin’s doing a great job with her,” said Flack. “She’s improving a lot.”
Both teams had scoring chances throughout the game, with sophomore midfielder Madelyn Jones getting quality shots off for the Wildcats, but the goalkeepers and defenders repeatedly thwarted those opportunities. Fort goalkeeper Samantha Cooper made five saves.
Despite the loss, the opener was a solid start for the Wildcats, who went 2-14-0 last year, going 1-7-0 in the Valley District, ending the season with a 4-1 win over district rival Broadway. After the Wildcats were more competitive in games than in their one-win season in 2021, Flack was named Valley District coach of the year last spring.
Returning to serve as Flack’s assistant coach are Dirk van Assendelft and Kevin Kendall.
RC graduated five seniors from last year’s team, led by three all-district second team selections: midfielder Jenasie Winterton and defenders Grace Shaw and Karmen Vest.
Flack looks forward to the development of Jones, a sophomore midfielder who led the Wildcats with nine goals and four assists during her freshman season, when she was an all-district first team selection.
The Wildcats’ co-captains this year are Perlozzo and three seniors: midfielder Maliyah Hickling, forward Abby Hickman, defender Ali Sanders. Of his captains, Flack said, “They are doing a wonderful job leading the team and helping to make the season a very enjoyable experience.”
Other returning players for the Wildcats are junior forward Sophie Vaught, junior defender Nellie Orrison, and three sophomores: midfielders Brooke Eichelberger and Lydia Kendall and forward Sofia Smith. Vaught was an all-district second team selection last year.
Flack said the Wildcats’ main strengths are their camaraderie, their goalkeeping and their improved understanding of the game, both offensively and defensively. Of the camaraderie, Flack said, “We are very close as a unit, everyone genuinely likes each other and looks out for each other, and there’s a real sense of togetherness that teams don’t always have.”
The RC coach said the Wildcats “have better ideas and understanding on how we defend, and we definitely are more polished with our attacking play.”
Because the Wildcats don’t have a deep squad, Flack said one of his main challenges is “to find the balance of how hard we work in practices while managing the number of games that are packed together. Seven games in the first 16 days of the season does not offer much in the way of recovery time, but we’ll get through it fine.”
Flack said the Wildcats’ goals are to finish higher in the district standings than last year, when they were tied for fourth with Broadway, and to eclipse last season’s win total.
Staunton 6, RC 0
A tired RC team suffered a 6-0 loss at Staunton on Friday. Staunton, playing its season opener, scored two goals in the first five minutes.
“Staunton was fresh and had watched our game film and were very well prepared for us physically and tactically,” said Flack. “We still competed well and got better as the game went along, but we couldn’t match their pace and energy.”
Catherine Campbell led Staunton with two goals and gave the Wildcats problems all evening. Perlozzo made seven saves for RC.
“I’m proud of the girls’ effort, and we’ll be fine moving forward,” said Flack.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play at Fort Defiance last night and will travel to James River on Friday before playing host to Stuarts Draft on Monday. Both nights will start with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m.
