‘Undermanned’ ‘Cats Fall Twice

The Rockbridge County High School boys lacrosse team dropped its first two home games of the season, losing to 2023 Class 4 state tournament participants Western Albemarle and E.C. Glass last week.

Last Tuesday, the Wildcats fell 17-3 to the Warriors, who reached the state quarterfinals a season ago.

Quinn Reilly rolled up 10 points, registering eight goals and two assists, to lead Western (1-1) to the victory. Nicholas Baglio notched three goals and one helper for the Warriors, and Christopher Baglio totaled one goal and three assists.

Jack Jensen recorded 14 saves in goal for RC (03), while John Brooke and Quincy Speers each tallied one goal and one assist.

Brooke got the Wildcats on the board first, scoring off of Speers’ pass at the 7:29 mark of the first quarter. After the Warriors posted three unanswered markers to close out the frame, Jayden Layman converted from an Ethan Forbes assist with 7:23 to play in the second period to pull RC to within 3-2.

Jensen was able to keep the ’Cats in the game early on, notching 10 of his stops in the first half – including a spectacular double save with just over five minutes left in the second quarter, when Western was nursing a 4-2 lead.

“Jack Jensen had a great game,” RC head coach Jay Whitelock said.

But it was all Western from there on out. The Warriors reeled off the final four goals of the half to lead 7-2 at the break, and they outscored RC 7-0 in the third quarter to build up an insurmountable advantage. The ’Cats’ only second-half score came from Speers with five minutes remaining in the fourth period.

Western’s large roster eventually proved to be too much for the Wildcats, who – with a 21-player varsity squad – can’t match the depth of some of their opponents.

“One of the problems that we have is that we’re sort of undermanned,” Whitelock said. “It’s tough to play teams that carry 30 or more kids when you have 20 kids.”

Alexander Jones registered eight saves in goal for Western, while Mack Widener chipped in two goals. Andrew Kelly won 10-of-20 faceoffs for RC.

E.C. Glass 13, RC 0

E.C. Glass shut out the Wildcats 13-0 in Lexington on Thursday evening.

Jensen racked up 19 more saves for RC, as the junior keeper surpassed 300 stops for his high school career. Kelly also performed well at the dot, winning over 60 percent of his faceoffs for the game.

But ultimately, the Hilltoppers (2-0) had too much firepower for the Wildcats to overcome. Glass is a longtime regional and state power. The Hilltoppers, who won the Class 4 state title in 2018, claimed another Region 4D championship and returned to the state semifinals last year.

RC is coming off a 9-7 season and a regional semifinal appearance last year. But the Wildcats lost several key players from last season’s roster – including seniors River Hull, Colby Jarvis and Garrett Stillwell – and are installing a new head coach, with Whitelock taking over for Robert Hull, who spent the previous five seasons in charge. Serving as Whitelock’s assistant coach is George Ray, who’s been involved in the local lacrosse scene for a long time.

The ’Cats’ early-season schedule hasn’t done them any favors during the transition. Prior to facing back-toback state tournament teams from Class 4, RC opened the season against a Class 5 program, falling 13-5 at Albemarle on March 14.

But Whitelock hopes that the Wildcats can learn the right lessons from facing some tough competition at the outset of the spring.

“It’s a benefit, and it’s also a detriment” to play a difficult early-season schedule, Whitelock said. “You’d like to get some confidence early on. But at the same time, you get to see what the competition is.” RC will play host to Franklin County on Thursday, starting with the junior varsity game at 5:30 p.m., with the varsity game scheduled for 7:15 p.m.