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The Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team made its fourth consecutive Class 4 state semifinal appearance count, defeating Hanover 11-7 in Lexington on Tuesday evening.
The Wildcats (17-1) will advance to Saturday's Class 4 state championship at Charlottesville High School, where they will face either Western Albemarle or Meridian.
The state title game appearance is the first in the Virginia High School League era for RC. The VHSL began sponsoring lacrosse in 2006. RC had fallen to Western in the state semifinals in each of the past three seasons.
Ruby Goodhart scored four goals and Nala Shearer tallied four assists to pace the Region 4D champion Wildcats in Tuesday's semifinal victory. Lola Mulitalo notched two goals and one assist for RC, while Maddie Dahl had two goals and six draw controls and Libba Erskine recorded four caused turnovers.
Kenson Epperly paced the Hawks (14-3) with three goals and one assist, and Izzi Greth tallied three assists.
The Wildcats used big goal-scoring runs in the first and fourth quarters to see off the Region 4A winners. RC dominated the opening frame, getting one goal apiece from Goodhart, Dahl, Josie Caldwell and Mulitalo -- as well as assists from four different Wildcats -- to assume an early 4-0 lead.
But the Hawks battled back in the second period. Consecutive goals from Epperly -- both assisted by Greth -- trimmed the RC lead in half, and a free-position marker from Winn Carlton made it 4-3 with 1:02 to play. That score held into the intermission.
Emily Snellings knotted things up at 4-4 with 5:58 remaining in the third quarter. But the Wildcats won the ensuing draw, and Anna Nye's unassisted goal with 5:02 to play in the period -- the 'Cats' first since the 1:49 mark of the opening frame -- put them back in front at 5-4.
Greth assisted Epperly's player-up goal with 1:06 left in the stanza, pulling Hanover even at 5-5. The Wildcats again secured the next possession -- with Dahl mostly inside the draw circle, RC held a 9-3 advantage in draw controls after the break -- and Mulitalo's goal from a Shearer assist with only 18 seconds to go put the home side ahead for good at 6-5.
The go-ahead goal also seemed to ignite the Wildcats, who started the fourth period with an offensive blitz. RC posted five more goals in the opening 5:10 of the quarter, including three scores from Goodhart and a marker from Halina Homiak. Dahl's player-up goal from a Shearer assist made it 11-5 with 6:50 remaining, putting the 'Cats in complete control.
Hanover wouldn't chip into the deficit until the final two minutes of regulation, getting late goals from Molly Quinn and Penny Quinn to provide the final margin.
Caldwell finished with one goal and two assists for RC, while Homiak and Nye each chipped in one goal and one helper. Emily Humphreys played the first half between the pipes and notched four saves, and Alyssa Hunter also made four stops after taking over at halftime.
Game time for the Class 4 state championship in Charlottesville is set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
