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An early barrage of goals propelled the Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team to a 16-4 win over visiting Patrick Henry on Monday of last week.
Later in the week, the Wildcats would rout William Byrd and gain a forfeit victory over Christiansburg to improve to 6-1 overall.
Last Monday, Nala Shearer poured in 10 points to pace RC, notching six goals and four assists on the night. Lola Mulitalo tallied five goals and a pair of helpers for the Wildcats, while Libba Erskine finished with three goals, one assist and four draw controls.
The ’Cats sprinted out of the gates, jumping out to an 8-1 lead within the first eight minutes of the contest and assuming a 13-3 advantage by halftime.
Much of the early damage was done by its highscoring duo. Mulitalo scored the first three goals of the game – two of them off of Shearer assists – and all six of the pair’s combined helpers came from setting the other player up.
Additionally, all 11 of the Wildcats’ goals from the run of play were assisted, with the other five markers coming on free-position shots.
“The connection between Nala Shearer and Lola Mulitalo was seamless,” RC head coach Susan Nye said. “That was nice, to just see us passing first, running second. That piece, I’m really trying to work with the girls to look to see where the pass is, because the ball will move faster than you can run.”
Erskine’s goal from a Lily Youngman assist put the Wildcats ahead 8-1 with 17:18 to play in the first half. The Patriots, who ended the week at 4-5, would trim the margin to 9-3 at the 14:08 mark, but RC closed the half with four straight tallies – including two 8-meter goals from Erskine and another from Shearer – to craft an insurmountable 10-goal lead before the break.
Shearer collected two more goals in the second half, and McKenzie Hines’ free-position score with just 4:19 left provided the final scoreline.
Although the Wildcats’ first-half offensive bombardment might have stolen the headline, RC’s defense turned in another solid performance. Rachel Hines saved six of the 10 shots on goal that she faced, and overall, the ’Cats neutralized PH’s attack.
“Their communication, that’s been a goal of ours in the past couple of games. The defense finally took that to heart,” Nye said. “They communicated, and they were talking between each other on cutters, and just sliding for double teams. … I’m very proud of where our defense is, and where we’re going.”
Youngman totaled two assists for RC. McKenzie Hines and Maddie Dahl each chipped in one goal and one assist, and the duo also combined for 12 draw controls. Dahl, Erskine, Mulitalo and Youngman each picked up three ground balls, while Erskine and Jaden McCoy caused three turnovers apiece.
For the game, the Wildcats outshot the Patriots 29-14 and held a commanding 17-5 edge on the draw circle. Ruby Jones recorded 11 saves in goal for PH.
Following a long gap between regular-season games – due to postponements and spring break, RC didn’t have any contests between March 29 and April 17 – the schedule will get busy from now until the end of the regular season in mid-May.
“Now it’s kind of managing, can we still continue to move forward and be ready for the end of May – and having however many games when we’re not going to have the practice time,” said Nye, who’s also looking forward to that challenge.
“I’m excited to have some games,” the Wildcats’ coach added.
RC 21, Byrd 1
RC put together another convincing performance last Wednesday, rolling to a 21-1 win over William Byrd in Vinton.
Mulitalo scored five goals to lead the way, while Shearer produced three goals and five assists. Dahl and Erskine each finished with three goals and three assists, and McKenzie Hines notched a hat trick to surpass the 100-goal mark for her career.
Dahl also helped the Wildcats to another dominant night on the draw circle, recording 12 draw controls in the game. McCoy paced the RC defense with five caused turnovers and three ground balls, and Emma Bates also registered three ground balls.
The Wildcats added another notch to the win column on Thursday when Christiansburg was forced to forfeit its scheduled home game with RC.
The ’Cats were slated to travel to Franklin County on Monday. RC will play host to Salem tonight, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m., with the varsity game scheduled for 7:15 p.m., before visiting Cave Spring for a 7:15 p.m. varsity contest on Thursday. The Wildcats will play host to William Byrd on Monday for a 5:30 p.m. varsity contest, preceding the 7:15 p.m. varsity boys’ game between the two schools.
