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The Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team produced another statement victory on the eve of the postseason, taking down E.C. Glass 16-7 in Lexington last Wednesday.
McKenzie Hines and Lola Mulitalo tallied five goals apiece as the Wildcats (12-1) wrapped up the regular season with their 11th consecutive victory. Tess Ahrens notched five goals, one assist and three caused turnovers for the Hilltoppers.
RC, which has won each of the last two Region 4D titles, enters this week’s regional tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Wildcats were slated to play host to eighth-seeded Jefferson Forest on Monday evening. (See separate story for result.)
Glass had already clinched the No. 2 seed in the region. The Hilltoppers cruised to a 22-8 win over No. 7 William Byrd in a quarterfinal matchup on Friday to improve to 11-3-1. But outside of a brief rally late in the first half of Wednesday’s game, the Hilltoppers simply couldn’t hang with the ’Cats.
RC head coach Susan Nye thought her team’s midfield ride and defensive pressure were the keys to helping the Wildcats pick up their 12th victory of the year.
“I don’t know how many caused turnovers we had, but our defense is playing so much smarter,” Nye said. “We’re getting some caused turnovers that we hadn’t been getting, and it just lets us be on offense just a little bit more.”
RC jumped out to a 6-0 advantage, getting two goals apiece from Hines and Libba Erskine during its early run. But Glass responded with three straight markers, and Camille Marraccini pulled the Hilltoppers to within 6-3 with 2:31 left in the first half.
The Wildcats were quick to respond. Erskine completed her hat trick a mere 12 seconds after Marraccini’s goal, and Mulitalo bagged her second of the game with 19 seconds to play as RC extended the margin to 8-3 by halftime.
The ’Cats were able to pad their lead in large part due to some excellent goalkeeping from Rachel Hines. The senior made five of her eight stops in the opening period.
“You could tell she was on a mission for first half,” Nye said of the RC goalie. “She took some great angles; she had some good stops. … To have her at that level – she’s always had a level of confidence, but to have it right now when we’re going into regional play, it’s exciting to see.”
Ahrens collected the first goal of the second half, making it 8-4 with 23:17 remaining. But the Wildcats countered with a 3-0 spurt, going in front 11-4 when Maddie Dahl set up Mulitalo at the 16:22 mark. Glass wouldn’t come any closer than five the rest of the way.
Dahl finished with two goals, two assists and five draw controls for RC, while Nala Shearer registered two assists. Leland Landes tallied 11 stops in goal for the Hilltoppers, and Emily Williams posted a pair of assists.
RC outshot Glass 32-21, though the Hilltoppers held a slight 13-11 advantage on the draw circle. Nora Hamilton picked up four draw controls for Glass, while Halina Homiak snagged four for the Wildcats. McKenzie Hines led RC with three caused turnovers.
Prior to the contest, RC recognized its seven seniors: the Hines sisters, Emma Bates, Jaden McCoy, Lexie Polly, McKenzie Polson and Lily Youngman. Nye has coached a large contingent from that group dating back to their youth lacrosse days, and the seniors have been a huge part of the Wildcats’ back-to-back trips to the Class 4 state semifinals.
“You just have a certain bond and relationship with kids,” Nye said. “I would do anything for them; they would do anything for this program. You can kind of see it on the field: the way they communicate with each other, the way they trust each other, the way they believe in each other – it’s pretty powerful.”
The Region 4D semifinals are slated for tonight, with the championship game set for Friday. Visit www.thenews- gazette.com for the latest scores and schedule updates.
