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Salem fended off a stern challenge from Rockbridge County to claim an 8-6 victory in a high school boys lacrosse matchup in Lexington last Wednesday.
Alex Nye scored four goals for the Wildcats (3-3), who had lost 16-5 on the road to the Spartans in their season opener back on March 13. Heading into round two against Salem (4-3), RC had won three out of its last four games, including blowout victories over Christiansburg and Charlottesville prior to the high school’s spring break.
“We felt like heading into this game, we had a lot to prove,” RC head coach Robert Hull said. “We played poorly the first go-round and have added some key strategies that we feel will give some teams more of a challenge. We wanted this rematch.”
Though the Wildcats provided a big test for Salem, the visitors never trailed. The Spartans struck first, but Nye’s opening goal leveled the game at 1-1 through the first quarter.
Salem used a big run to open up a 4-1 second-period advantage. But Nye pulled one back from a John Brooke assist, and freshman midfielder Andrew Kelly scored to bring the Wildcats to within 4-3 heading into halftime.
The Spartans would grab two more goals in the third quarter, with Nye’s point-blank finish keeping RC close at 6-4. Salem pushed the margin out to 8-4 early in the fourth period, and while River Hull and Nye answered with goals down the stretch, the ’Cats weren’t quite able to complete the comeback.
Coach Hull pointed to special teams as an area where RC is still looking to improve. But he also noted that the Wildcats should benefit from playing a close contest against one of the tougher teams on their schedule.
“Our shortcoming [against Salem] was missing out on capitalizing with our numerous man-up opportunities. We didn’t get one” extra-man goal, Hull said. “If that alone changes, we come out on top. Every team has to learn how to win these tough games, and we are getting there.”
Overall, though, Hull had plenty of praise for the way the Wildcats battled against the Spartans.
“This was our best effort of the season, start to finish,” the RC coach said. “We have kept getting stronger on the defensive side, and we are continuing to improve on the offensive end. I’ve told these kids that we are trending up, and if we keep tweaking areas and our play, we should peak by the time the playoffs get here.”
The Wildcats will play host to Jefferson Forest on Thursday before traveling to Patrick Henry in Roanoke on Monday. Both nights will begin with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m., with the varsity contests scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
