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Tuesday, June 6 -- Western Albemarle defeated the Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team 16-10 in the Class 4 semifinals in Crozet.
Maggie Craytor totaled five goals and three assists for the Warriors (17-0), who ended the Wildcats' season in the state semifinal round for the third consecutive year. Rachel Hines made 11 saves in goal for RC (16-2).
Reeve Goldstein and Taylor Florin each tallied three goals and one assist for Western, which used an 8-0 spurt that stretched across halftime to take control. McKenzie Hines paced the Wildcat offense with two goals and two assists. Nala Shearer finished with two goals and one helper for RC, and Libba Erskine and Lola Mulitalo notched two goals apiece.
The teams traded scores for most of the opening period, and goals from McKenzie Hines, Mulitalo and Halina Homiak gave RC the lead on three separate occasions. Rachel Hines also made seven saves in the first half to keep the Wildcats in the game.
But after Mulitalo tied the contest at 4-4 from a Maddie Dahl assist with 8:38 remaining in the period, the Warriors keyed up their big run. Goldstein and Genevieve Hathaway scored down the stretch to put Western up 6-4 at the break. The Warriors then reeled off the first six goals of the second half, going in front 12-4 on another Goldstein marker with 15:55 to play.
Shearer broke the Wildcats' offensive drought just 30 seconds later. But RC couldn't put together a goal-scoring streak of its own, and Western still led 16-7 with one minute to go. Libba Erskine scored twice in the waning moments, sandwiching her goals around a free-position tally from Josie Caldwell as the Wildcats notched three markers in the final 44 seconds.
Western held a 31-18 advantage in shots, while RC produced a 17-10 edge on the draw circle. McKenzie Hines collected nine draw controls, while Dahl snagged four draws and also chipped in two assists. Hathaway and McLean Stokes scored two goals apiece for the Warriors, and Katie Alhusen finished with one goal and two assists.
The Warriors also forced 26 RC turnovers while committing just 11. Hathaway, Florin and Juliana Murphy each posted two caused turnovers for Western, while Rachel Hines forced three turnovers and McKenzie Hines caused two for the Wildcats.
Western advances to take on Dominion in Saturday's Class 4 state championship game in Fredericksburg. The Titans beat the Warriors 16-7 in last year's title tilt.
