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The Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team cruised to a 20-2 victory over E.C. Glass in the semifinals of the Region 4D tournament in Lexington.
The 13th straight victory for the top-seeded Wildcats (14-1) advances them to the regional final against third-seeded Blacksburg, and it also qualifies RC for the Class 4 state tournament for the fourth consecutive season.
Anna Nye tallied five goals, one assist and 12 draw controls to pace RC in Tuesday's win over the fourth-seeded Hilltoppers (10-6). Josie Caldwell scored four times for the 'Cats, while Lola Mulitalo notched three goals and one assist, Ruby Goodhart bagged a hat trick, and Nala Shearer registered a goal and three assists.
Caldwell got RC on the board first, scoring from a Mulitalo assist at the 8:32 mark of the first quarter. After Stella Sexton leveled the score for Glass with 6:25 to go, the Wildcats quickly took over.
Nye won the ensuing draw, leading to a go-ahead goal for Mulitalo just 13 seconds after the Hilltoppers had tied things up. That keyed a 6-0 RC spurt to close out the quarter, featuring three player-up goals in the final 1:15 -- including Nye's buzzer-beater from a Shearer feed -- following a Glass yellow card.
The Wildcats created further separation with an 8-0 blitz in the second quarter, getting two goals apiece from Nye, Mulitalo and Caldwell during the stanza to assume a 15-1 halftime advantage.
The RC run continued with the first three markers of the second half, and a goal from Goodhart stretched the margin to 18-1 with 4:19 remaining in the third quarter. Sexton grabbed a second goal for the Hilltoppers on an 8-meter chance inside the final minute of the frame, and fourth-period goals from Goodhart and Nye created the final scoreline.
Maddie Dahl notched two goals and one assist for the Wildcats. Halina Homiak chipped in one goal and one assist, reaching 100 career points in the process, and she also snared four draws.
Libba Erskine paced the RC defense with three caused turnovers and also tallied one goal. Emily Humphreys made two saves in goal for the 'Cats during the first half, while Alyssa Hunter recorded four stops after the break.
Adison Tucker made eight saves for Glass, and Nora Hamilton had one assist and three draw controls.
The Wildcats will play host to the Bruins (12-4) in the regional championship, with date and time to be announced later. RC won the regular-season meeting in Blacksburg, recording a 20-5 victory back on April 10.
