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Friday, June 2 -- The Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team defeated Powhatan 12-5 in the VHSL Class 4 quarterfinals at The Fields at Southern Virginia University.
Lola Mulitalo scored five goals and Nala Shearer tallied two goals and three assists to lead the Wildcats (16-1) into the state semifinals for the third consecutive season. RC will take on either Western Albemarle or Salem in the semifinal round next week.
Rachel Hines notched seven saves for the Wildcats. McKenzie Hines totaled two goals, one assist and five draw controls for RC, while Halina Homiak scored twice and Maddie Dahl finished with one goal, one assist and six draw controls.
Sophia Payne led the Indians (13-5) with two goals, and Erica Krauss notched one goal and one assist. Mackenzie Halfon recorded seven saves for Powhatan, which finished as the runner-up in Region 4A.
Just a week after coming from behind to beat Salem in overtime in the Region 4D championship on the same field, the Wildcats led from wire to wire in the state quarterfinals. Homiak scored the first two goals of the game, part of an opening 4-0 run that also featured markers from McKenzie Hines and Mulitalo and a pair of assists from Shearer.
Kate Adams got the Indians on the board at the 8:58 mark of the first half, but the 'Cats tallied three of the final four goals of the period -- including two more scores from Mulitalo -- to go in front 7-2 at the break.
Rachel Hines made six of her seven stops in the opening stanza, as RC held a narrow 12-11 advantage in shots across the first 25 minutes.
But the Wildcats dominated long stretches of play in the second half. Dahl, Mulitalo and McKenzie Hines all posted goals to push the lead out to 10-2, and Powhatan didn't even manage a shot until Krauss scored with 11:27 to play.
Shearer's second goal of the night made it 11-3 at the 5:49 mark, and -- despite Payne's late pair of goals -- RC cruised into the state semifinals at the expense of the Indians for the second straight season. The Wildcats had beaten Powhatan 16-5 in the Class 4 quarterfinals in Lexington in 2022.
RC outshot the Indians 23-16 and held an 11-7 advantage on the draw circle. The Wildcats also forced 16 Powhatan turnovers, including nine miscues in the second half. Jaden McCoy and each of the Hines sisters posted two caused turnovers apiece.
RC will either travel to Western Albemarle or play host to Salem in the Class 4 semifinals, which will take place either Tuesday or Wednesday. The Warriors and the Spartans square off in their quarterfinal matchup in Crozet on Saturday.
