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For most of the season, the offense has taken center stage for the Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team. But in Friday’s Class 4 state quarterfinal, the Wildcats’ defense stole the show.
RC’s stop unit clamped down on Powhatan as the ’Cats claimed a 12-5 victory at The Fields at Southern Virginia University, booking a trip to the state semifinals for the third straight year. After winning their 15th consecutive game, the Wildcats were slated to visit Region 4A champion Western Albemarle in the semifinal round last night, the third consecutive state showdown between these two powerhouses.
Lola Mulitalo scored five goals and Nala Shearer tallied two goals and three assists to lead the Wildcats (16-1) against the Indians (13-5). But the Wildcat defense looked even sharper: Rachel Hines made seven saves, and two of the five goals that Powhatan tallied came in the final four minutes, when the contest was well in hand.
“I think the defense won our game today,” said RC senior midfielder McKenzie Hines, who recorded two goals, one assist, five draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers. “They were sitting low, moving their feet, checking – they were just going for the ball. It was honestly gorgeous.”
Sophia Payne led Powhatan with two goals, and Erica Krauss notched one goal and one assist. Mackenzie Halfon registered seven saves for the Indians, who finished as the runner-up to Western in Region 4A.
Just one week after coming from behind to beat Salem 10-9 in overtime in the Region 4D championship game on the same field, the Wildcats led from wire to wire in the state quarterfinals. Halina 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 Powhatan 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.
Though the Indians made RC work on the offensive end, the Wildcat attack still managed to find a good rhythm in building up their advantage.
“They’re really a lot more patient on finding the best pass, not the first pass,” RC head coach Susan Nye said of her team’s attack. “We had a lot of one-on-zeros with the goalie, which helped for easier goals.”
Still, the score might have been much closer at the intermission if not for a fabulous first-half goalkeeping display from Rachel Hines, who made six of her seven stops in the opening stanza.
Due to the dominance of the RC defense and draw control unit, the Wildcats didn’t concede a lot of shots during the regular season. But Hines credits the opportunity to face the RC offense on a daily basis with helping prepare her for the pressure of a playoff atmosphere.
“I don’t see a lot of shots in games, but in practice, they’re drilling them – and I’m doing my best to save them,” she said. “I try a lot to get my hand-eye coordination right … just being confident, and being prepared and ready.”
The Wildcats proceeded to dominate 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 – after RC held a narrow 12-11 edge in shots across the first 25 minutes – Powhatan didn’t even manage a shot attempt in the second half until Krauss scored with 11:27 to play.
The RC defense forced nine Indian turnovers after halftime and only yielded five shots in the period. In addition to McKenzie Hines’ two takeaways, Rachel Hines picked off a pair of passes from the goal circle, and Jaden McCoy also caused two turnovers.
“Honestly, that’s the best we’ve come out and played defense the entire year,” Nye said. “They actually were moving their feet; their sticks were staying up; we were getting knockdowns. … We won that game because of the defense.”
Shearer’s second goal of the night made it 11-3 at the 5:49 mark, and – despite a late pair of goals from Payne – 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.
Mulitalo polished off her five-goal night with a player-down 8-meter score with 1:20 remaining. It was quite a state tournament debut for the gifted freshman.
“She has that natural ability that you can’t teach on her change of direction and her change of speed – and she’s a natural lefty,” Nye said of Mulitalo. “I’m excited to see what she’s going to do for the next couple of years.”
For the game, RC outshot the Indians 23-16 and held an 11-7 advantage on the draw circle. Maddie Dahl totaled one goal, one assist and six draw controls for the Wildcats, and Hannah Kantanen chipped in one marker for Powhatan.
RC will look to make more program history as the state tournament continues this week. If the Wildcats can get over the semifinal hurdle, they’ll advance to the Class 4 championship game at Massaponax High School in Fredericksburg on Saturday afternoon. For the result from the semifinal game and state tournament updates, visit www.thenews-gazette.com.
But three straight regional titles and state semifinal appearances are noteworthy accomplishments in their own right. After losing some key players to graduation last spring, returning to this stage was hardly a guarantee for RC.
“This year, it’s different. We lost a lot of seniors last year,” McKenzie Hines said. “But this is a really good group of girls. I’m excited to move forward with them.”
Her sister echoed that sentiment. “It means a lot to me that this team can go this far,” Rachel Hines said. “We have such a good connection with each other, and we’ve been playing together since fifth grade.”
