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The Rockbridge County High School girls soccer team dropped a pair of home matches last week, falling 5-2 to Staunton last Monday before losing 9-2 to Harrisonburg in the Valley District opener the next night.
Last Tuesday, the Wildcats (3-5) fell victim to a brilliant individual performance, as Ez Cardoso-Rodriguez poured in five goals to lead the Blue Streaks to a lopsided win and improve to 4-2. Gali Santiago Henriquez, Addison Fornadel, Hannah O’Fallon and Margie Delcid Lopez also tallied goals for Harrisonburg, and Carolyn Hinshaw made six saves.
Madelyn Jones and Sophie Vaught notched second-half goals for the Wildcats. Sophia Perlozzo recorded 10 saves for RC, as the Blue Streaks outshot the Wildcats 29-14.
But the night belonged to Cardoso-Rodriguez. The speedy Harrisonburg forward knifed through the RC defense three times in the first half, bagging a hat trick in a span of nine minutes that helped the visitors take a 4-0 halftime lead.
Cardoso-Rodriguez would add two more rapid-fire goals in the second period, finishing from Quetzalli Arteaga-Vazquez’s through ball in the 64th minute to make it 7-1 and scoring again from a long midfield pass two minutes later.
While the Wildcats were well aware of Cardoso-Rodriguez’s abilities, stopping her on the field proved to be a difficult challenge.
“We know that kid – No. 1 from Harrisonburg – is special,” said RC head coach B.J. Flack, referring to the striker’s jersey number. “Her speed and touch are good … We knew that going in, and we know how to defend her. We just didn’t do it right.”
Harrisonburg got on the board less than three minutes in on a fluky sort of goal. Henriquez’s lob from near the half-field line took a couple of big bounces, eluding Perlozzo and landing in the back of the net.
The ’Cats’ junior keeper made a handful of fine saves shortly afterwards, denying Cardoso-Rodriguez on multiple occasions and dealing with Fornadel’s sharp strike from 20 yards out.
But Cardoso-Rodriguez went to work midway through the half, darting straight through the RC back line for goals in the 23rd and 29th minutes and then completing her hat trick in the 32nd.
Fornadel pushed the Blue Streaks’ advantage to 5-0 in the 53rd minute, scoring on an audacious lob shot from the right touchline.
But the Wildcats kept their heads up, and they were rewarded six minutes later when Jones made a nifty run up the left side and twisted a shot inside the far post.
Following O’Fallon’s penalty kick – awarded for a handball inside the 18yard box – and two more Cardoso-Rodriguez goals, RC found the net again in the 71st minute. After Hinshaw denied Jones on a close-range effort from a Wildcat corner kick, Vaught tapped in the rebound.
“The girls didn’t quit,” Flack said. “We got two goals in the second half, so that’s always a positive.”
Lopez finished off the scoring – and the match – inside the final two minutes, as Harrisonburg reached a sevengoal cushion and instituted the mercy rule.
The Wildcats had nearly a two-week layoff due to spring break, and the lack of both games and training showed in losses to tough teams on consecutive nights. But Flack is confident that his team can bounce back from a pair of disappointing results.
“It’s my responsibility to make sure we’re doing better coming out of spring break,” the RC coach said. “Now we’ve got some days where we just have practice time.
“We’ll just go to work over the next couple of days – keep our heads up, and keep going,” he added. “If any group is capable of doing that, it’s this group.”
Staunton 5, RC 2
Staunton completed a season sweep of the Wildcats with a 5-2 victory in Lexington last Monday.
The Storm, who had beaten visiting RC 6-0 on March 17, scored twice in the first half of the rematch. Jones pulled a goal back off an assist from Abby Hickman shortly after the break, and RC had some opportunities to push for an equalizing goal.
But Staunton, which ended the week at 3-2-1, countered with two more scores, extending its lead to 4-1. Jones grabbed her second goal, this time from a Vaught assist, to make it 4-2 before a late Storm goal capped the scoring.
Perlozzo made nine saves for the Wildcats.
Even though RC came out on the wrong end of the scoreline, the Wildcats were able to narrow the gap with Staunton. The Storm had recorded a 6-0 victory over RC at home on March 17.
“The rust from spring break showed early on, but we regrouped and made a game of it,” Flack said. “It was nice to see improvement on the same opponent the second time around.”
The Wildcats were slated to visit Spotswood last night and will continue Valley District action when they play host to Turner Ashby on Friday. They’ll travel to face district rival Broadway on Tuesday. Both nights will start with the junior varsity kickoff at 5:30 p.m.
