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The Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team picked up two more convincing wins last week, rolling past William Byrd and Hidden Valley at home.
The Wildcats entered last night’s regular-season finale against E.C. Glass with a 10game winning streak and an 11-1 overall record.
On Monday of last week, McKenzie Hines’s 11-point night paced the Wildcats in a 22-3 thumping of William Byrd, which fell to 2-10. Hines finished with four goals and seven assists, while Nala Shearer notched six goals and one assist, and Lola Mulitalo recorded five goals, two assists and three caused turnovers.
Maddie Dahl also collected 14 draw controls to go along with three goals and one assist for RC. The junior midfielder gives the Wildcats yet another weapon in their usually successful quest to dominate the draw circle.
“Maddie Dahl, we’ve always had her on the circle. This year, she’s taken a larger role, with getting her in there to take the draw,” RC head coach Susan Nye said. “She has great hands; she has good height. It gives us that extra dimension, not having to rely on McKenzie [Hines] all the time. Maddie has stepped it up.”
Shearer got the Wildcats on the board just 25 seconds into the contest. Dahl then made it 2-0 at the 21:39 mark, capitalizing on the first of Hines’ seven assists.
Annika Hylton scored for the Terriers with 19:09 to go, cutting the lead to 2-1. The RC offense then bogged down for several minutes, prompting an early timeout from Nye.
For a team that’s used to lighting up the scoreboard, the Wildcats had two relatively subpar offensive games last week, gritting out a 10-7 win over Salem and an 8-4 victory against Cave Spring. That sluggishness seemed to carry over into the early stages of Monday’s matchup.
But once the Wildcats got going, they again looked unstoppable. By the end of the first half, Hines had poured in eight points, Shearer had scored three more times, and RC had a massive 13-2 lead.
“We just haven’t been our efficient selves on offense. I know that we’re a really good throwing and catching team, and all of a sudden we started second-guessing ourselves,” Nye said. “It was so much better [tonight], and the smoothness was there on the offense. I think that’s what we needed.”
Mulitalo got going in the second period, scoring four of her five goals after halftime. Lily Youngman also notched two goals and one assist in the game. Hylton finished with two goals for the Terriers, and Barb Hernandez made six saves.
RC outshot Byrd 30-6 and produced a 21-5 advantage on the draw circle. Libba Erskine grabbed four draw controls for the Wildcats.
RC 23, HV 3
RC recorded another lopsided win with a similar scoreline two nights later, downing Hidden Valley 23-3.
Shearer posted 12 points for the Wildcats, totaling seven goals and five assists on the night. Mulitalo also tallied seven goals, while McKenzie Hines bagged five goals and Dahl finished with one goal and six assists.
Calli Anderson scored all three goals and grabbed five draw controls for the Titans (7-5), while Victoria Anderson had two assists.
The ’Cats picked up where they left off on the offensive end from Monday’s victory, scoring the first 13 goals of the game and leading 14-1 by halftime.
Ten of RC’s 14 markers in the opening stanza were assisted, including four helpers apiece from Dahl and Shearer. Both Mulitalo and Shearer had also notched five goals apiece by the break, as the Wildcats’ attack again looked like a well-oiled machine.
“Once they realize that every person on this team has incredible stick skills – and they believed in each other – it showed up today,” Nye said. “Our transitions, our passes, our feeds with defenders on them – it was great.”
On the evening, RC outshot Hidden Valley 32-7 and held a 20-7 advantage on the draw circle. Dahl again led the way with nine draw controls, while Erskine snared six.
Erskine and McKenzie Polson each chipped in one goal and one assist for the Wildcats, and Youngman recorded two helpers. RC also added another weapon back to its offensive arsenal, as junior attack Halina Homiak returned from an ankle injury to post one goal in limited minutes.
While the offense continues to be dynamic, the Wildcats look equally impressive on the defensive end. Rachel Hines saved three of the six shots on target that she faced in Wednesday’s game.
And Jaden McCoy notched three more caused turnovers. The senior defender is quietly putting together a terrific season.
“Jaden is always in the right place at the right time,” Nye said. “If she’s not the best defender – or one of the best defenders – in our region, I would be shocked. … She’s playing a phenomenal senior year.”
RC’s game at Covenant, scheduled for Friday afternoon, was canceled. Following last night’s regular-season finale at home against Glass, the Wildcats will move on to the Region 4D tournament, which starts on Monday with the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. at Southern Virginia University. For the tournament schedule and updates, visit www.thenews- gazette.com.
