RC Girls Best Blacksburg, 24-6

Wildcats Win Fourth Straight Region 4D Lacrosse Crown

In Friday’s Region 4D championship game, the Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team left no doubt about its dominance in regional play this season.

Fueled by a powerhouse display from Lola Mulitalo, the topseeded Wildcats (15-1) overwhelmed third-seeded Blacksburg 24-6 in Lexington, claiming their fourth consecutive regional title.

Both teams advanced to the Class 4 state tournament, with the Wildcats scheduled to play host to Powhatan on Friday at 6 p.m. For tournament updates, visit www.thenews-gazette.com.

Mulitalo poured in 16 points in Friday’s regional final, notching seven goals and nine assists. Seven of those nine helpers came on markers for Anna Nye and Nala Shearer, who both finished with five goals and two assists. Nye also collected 12 draw controls and six caused turnovers.

Mulitalo has gotten off to an impressive start at the high school level, surpassing 100 career goals toward the end of the regular season. But Friday’s eye-popping goal and assist numbers both represent season-bests for the sophomore.

“Lola Mulitalo started to dodge more, which opened up the passing lanes and contributed to a lot of her feeds. She has an amazing first step and was fabulous on her crease dodges,” RC head coach Susan Nye said. “The passes to [Shearer and Anna Nye] were very close to being perfect, which made easy scores for Nala and Anna.”

The Wildcats, who had beaten Blacksburg 20-5 in their regular- season meeting on April 10 in Lexington, posted the first four goals of the game on Friday and never looked back against the Bruins (12-5). In addition to some nifty passing on offense – 17 of RC’s 24 goals were assisted – the defense was on point as well.

Libba Erskine totaled seven caused turnovers and four ground balls, while Nye had six takeaways and won 12 draw controls. Nadia Gaydos and Halina Homiak each picked up four ground balls.

“The defense did a wonderful job with their communication skills and getting their sticks in the passing lanes,” coach Nye said. “We have been working in practices on watching the feeders’ eyes and getting their sticks in the path of the ball. We saw this put into action during the regional finals game.

“Our defense also played a lot faster with moving on the flight of the passes, and we were much faster approaching the ball carrier during one-on-ones,” the RC coach added.

Homiak contributed on the offensive end as well, notching two goals and two assists, while Maddie Dahl and Ruby Goodhart also scored two goals apiece for the Wildcats.

RC will take a 14-game winning streak into the state tournament. The Wildcats won every game against a regional foe this spring by at least 15 goals, outscoring their three Region 4D tournament opponents – Jefferson Forest, E.C. Glass and Blacksburg – by a whopping 64-11 combined margin.

As the ’Cats aim to reach the Class 4 semifinals for the fourth straight season, they hope that the advantages of playing in Lexington are at least twofold: not just the obvious benefit of avoiding a bus trip, but also getting to defend their natural playing surface at Wildcat Stadium.

“Being able to play at home is huge for us,” Coach Nye said. “Most of the teams that we play have turf fields. Turf plays a little different with the speed of play and the way the ball bounces.

“It’s fabulous for us to be able to play at home on grass, because we just don’t have that many opportunities to play on turf,” Nye added.