RC Boys Lax Wins Pair

Brooke Posts Nine Assists In Home Victory

The Rockbridge County High School boys lacrosse team collected a pair of wins last week, holding off Franklin County 7-6 on the road before returning home to clip Hidden Valley 13-9.

Following an 0-4 start, the Wildcats have won four of their last six games – including three of their last four contests – to improve to 4-6 overall.

Last Wednesday, junior attackman John Brooke racked up nine assists to lead RC to a 13-9 win over HV in Lexington.

Brooke also scored one goal, totaling 10 points as the Wildcats built up a big lead and held off a second-half rally from the Titans (1-10). Andrew Kelly notched four goals, one assist and a 21-of-26 mark on faceoffs for RC, and Jack Jensen recorded nine saves.

Eli Shartzer paced HV with five goals and one assist, and Abel Fitzgerald made 11 saves.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 6-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, getting three goals from Kelly along with a manup goal and four assists from Brooke in the opening frame.

Brooke picked apart the Titans’ defense all night, recording most of his assists by feeding teammates from behind the cage.

“That’s the way we really want to play… assist, goal; assist, goal,” RC head coach Jay Whitelock said. “We don’t depend on one guy driving through 15 people. A good lacrosse team spreads its wealth out.”

HV got off the mark with a pair of extra-man goals to pull within 6-2 midway through the second stanza. Later in the quarter, Grayden Brown’s man-up marker – assisted by Brooke – with just seven seconds to play would give the ’Cats an 8-3 halftime cushion.

“The first half, defensively, we did really, really well,” said Whitelock, who went on to highlight his three starting defensemen. “Daniel [Grimm], Sawyer [Hattersley], Caleb [Robinson] – really, really good.”

Brooke set up Trenten Cash for a goal on the man advantage with 7:05 to play in the third period, making it 9-3. But a 5-2 stretch from HV got the visitors back into the game, and James Marra’s extra-man marker made it 11-8 with eight minutes left in regulation.

The Wildcats countered with another man-up score, with Brooke again setting up Brown to push the margin to 12-8 with 5:35 to go. Quincy Speers scored from Brooke’s ninth and final assist with 1:54 remaining to provide an extra bit of insurance.

Cash finished with two goals and one assist for RC, while Brown and Quincy Speers registered two goals apiece and long-stick midfielder Jackson Speers posted three caused turnovers. John Janiga had one goal and one assist for the Titans.

The teams combined for a whopping 23 penalties, leading to a slew of man-up chances. HV converted on 5-of-9 extra-man opportunities, while RC finished 5-of-10.

Prior to the game, RC honored its senior class: Grimm, Hattersley, Jackson Speers and honorary captain Shanan Andrews.

If the Wildcats can win their final three games on the road – they face Cave Spring, William Byrd and Christiansburg in a four-day stretch next week – they have a chance to move into the top four in Region 4D and host a quarterfinal game in the regional tournament.

“This is the start of winning out,” Whitelock said of the victory over HV. “Successful senior night.”

RC 7, FC 6

RC slipped past Franklin County 7-6 on the road on Monday of last week.

Jensen made 13 saves, including two key stops in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, as the Wildcats grabbed their second 1-goal road victory of the season. Back on April 10, RC stunned Blacksburg 12-11 on Quincy Speers’ buzzer-beater.

In last Monday’s win over the Eagles (2-8), Kelly scored two goals and won 11-of-15 faceoffs, while Brown and Quincy Speers also notched two goals apiece. Jayden Layman finished with one goal and two assists, and Jackson Speers picked up six ground balls.

RC kicks off its seasonending road stretch at Cave Spring on Monday, with the varsity game only at 5:30 p.m. The Wildcats will then play at William Byrd next Wednesday, May 15, starting with the junior varsity game at 5:30 p.m., with the varsity game scheduled to follow at 7:15.