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The Rockbridge County High School boys soccer team lost Valley District matches to Turner Ashby, Harrisonburg and Broadway last week.
The Wildcats closed out their district schedule with a 1-7 record. At 2-12 overall, RC will cap the regular season against James River at home tonight, Wednesday.
On Tuesday of last week, TA knocked off RC 3-0 in Lexington. All three goals came in the first half as the Knights completed a season sweep of the Wildcats. John Lindberg made eight saves in goal for RC.
TA would go on to beat Spotswood 1-0 on Thursday, improving to 12-4 overall and 6-2 in the district.
In Tuesday’s game, Connor Sullivan opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a picture-perfect 30-yard strike. Solomon Kisembo then delivered a hard low shot from just outside the penalty area to make it 2-0 in the 25th minute.
Aiden Polson would grab TA’s third eight minutes later, scoring from 20 yards out after Lindberg had made an exceptional charging save on an initial attempt from Ayden Van Horn.
While the Knights delivered three highquality finishes, the Wildcats may have been a step slow in closing down their defensive assignments.
“All three of their goals were from outside the box, and we just weren’t shutting down space,” RC head coach Scott Youngdahl said. “They’re a very quick team, and they get to the ball first.”
But while TA may have deserved its halftime lead – the Knights outshot RC 17-3 and had a 5-0 edge in corners across the first 40 minutes – the Wildcats battled back in the second period. TA held a much narrower 12-9 advantage in chances in the second half, and RC also earned five corners of its own.
And the ’Cats nearly dented the scoreboard late on. Cole Boller-Pinkham forced an impressive save from TA goalkeeper Isaac Arenas on a long-range effort in the 56th minute, and John Huss hit the post off of a deflected corner kick with just over three minutes remaining.
“We played a lot better” in the second half, Youngdahl said. “We didn’t fall into the trap of trying to chase balls and just reacting to what they’re doing. We were trying to give them a little bit of their own medicine.”
Considering that the first meeting between the two teams had finished 7-0 in TA’s favor – and that Tuesday’s match seemed at one point to be heading in the same direction – Youngdahl praised his squad’s resilience.
“I’m pretty pleased,” said the RC coach, whose team was also shorthanded on Tuesday. “We’ve still got the injury bug. … But people rallied. They’re fighters.”
HHS 6, RC 0
Harrisonburg bested RC 6-0 in Lexington on Thursday.
Fernando Galindo Romero and Brian Antunez scored two goals apiece to pace the Blue Streaks (9-3-2 overall, 7-1 district). Lindberg recorded 14 saves for the Wildcats.
The away team’s win put a bit of a damper on Senior Night for RC’s Boller-Pinkham, Huss, Leo Decanini, Brian Kendall, Emmet King-Bond and Bryan Vasquez-Mendez. The Wildcats also honored Spanish exchange student Jorge Martinez.
But Youngdahl, who’s wrapping up his sixth season at the helm, had plenty of praise for his senior class. Three of those Wildcats – Boller-Pinkham, Decanini and Kendall – have been with the program since they were eighth-graders.
“They’re a big part of this team,” Youngdahl said of his senior class. “Their work ethic is great; they never want to come out of a game. They’re good students, and they’re good people.”
Harrisonburg jumped in front in the seventh minute, when Izaack Cruz Gonzalez’s cross was deflected in by an RC defender for an own goal. Romero and Antunez bagged markers less than two minutes apart later in the half to push the advantage to 3-0.
Lindberg played his part to keep the Wildcats in the game, making eight saves in the opening stanza as the Blue Streaks outshot RC 19-1. His reel included a phenomenal point-blank stop on Miguel Osorto Osorto in the 26th minute, as well as a diving palm save on a long-range effort shortly before the halftime whistle. The junior goalie would also deny Gonzalez’s penalty kick midway through the second half.
“He was a very good keeper last year, and he’s just a great keeper now,” Youngdahl said of Lindberg. “His reflexes have always been good; his hands have always been good. But his speed is better; his concentration is better; his punts are better. I’m really proud of him.”
But the chances kept coming for Harrisonburg, and Antunez and Romero scored early in the second half to extend the margin to 5-0.
RC had several key opportunities down the stretch, including two in short order in the closing moments. Kendall made a dazzling run into the 18-yard box in the 76th minute, forcing a terrific leaping save from Blue Streaks goalkeeper Adolfo Rivera Rivas. Huss then hit the crossbar on a chance that resulted from the ensuing corner kick.
Seconds later, Fredy Pineda Rodriguez added Harrisonburg’s sixth goal at the other end of the pitch.
Broadway 3, RC 1
Broadway defeated the visiting Wildcats 3-1 on Friday evening.
The Gobblers (6-10, 1-7) jumped out to a 2-0 halftime lead on their way to avenging an earlier defeat to RC. The ’Cats had beaten Broadway by the same 3-1 scoreline in Lexington back on April 25.
In the rematch, Maddox Jordan got RC on the board in the second half, launching a free kick from near the half-field line that bounced into the goal. But Broadway answered on a counterattack, putting the match away at 3-1.
Lindberg recorded eight saves for the Wildcats.
RC’s game against JR tonight is the second half of a varsity doubleheader, which begins with the girls’ contest against the Knights at 5:30 p.m., with the boys’ game scheduled for 7 p.m.
