RC Laxmen Ousted In Quarters

Cave Spring Comes From Behind To Topple Wildcats

The Rockbridge County High School boys lacrosse team concluded its season with an 8-7 home loss to Cave Spring in the Region 4D quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon in Lexington.

The fourth-seeded Wildcats (6-8), who had suffered a 12-11 overtime loss at fifth-seeded Cave Spring (7-7) on Monday of last week, had a 7-2 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, but the Knights scored six unanswered goals to earn the comeback victory. It was similar to last Monday’s game, in which the Wildcats had lost a 4-1 lead.

On Saturday, Cave Spring led 2-1 in the first quarter, but the Wildcats tied the game 2-2 when Quincy Speers scored with three-tenths of a second left.

The second quarter was scoreless, but the Wildcats picked up their offense in the third quarter, scoring all five goals of the period, starting with a goal from Andrew Kelly after he won a faceoff. For the game, Kelly won 12of-18 faceoffs.

In the fourth quarter, starting with 9:34 left, the Knights scored three goals in about three-and-a-half minutes to cut RC’s lead to 7-6. Cave Spring then tied the game 7-7 on a goal by Spencer Trivett with 4:35 left. Shortly after that, Chris Scott scored the winning goal for Cave Spring.

Reviewing his team’s performance, RC head coach Jay Whitelock said, “The defense played extremely well in the first half, and we could not hold the ball in the second half. The ball just didn’t want to stay in our sticks.”

Kelly and John Brooke led the Wildcats with two goals each. Scott paced the Knights with three goals, while Liam Wampler had scored two goals.

RC goalie Jack Jensen made 13 saves, while Cave Spring goalie Hayes Reger had five saves.

The Knights advanced to the Region 4D semifinals and were scheduled to play at topseeded Salem last night.

RC turned its season around after an 0-4 start in their first year under Whitelock and assistant coach George Ray. Last year, the Wildcats went 9-7, falling to Cave Spring 11-5 in the Region 4D semifinals.

The Wildcats won several close games this year, including their first win, an 11-10 victory over Blacksburg on April 10, as well as a 7-6 win over Franklin County on April 29 and a 7-5 victory over William Byrd last Wednesday.

As the season ends, the Wildcats will miss their four seniors: co-captains Shanan Andrews, Daniel Grimm, Sawyer Hattersley and Jackson Speers.

Whitelock said he and Ray will evaluate the team, but he is optimistic about the young Wildcats’ future. He noted that Brooke, a junior attackman, had about 20 assists and was one of the top scorers on the team this year.