RC Girls Lax Run Ends

RC Girls Lax Run Ends Wildcats Can’t Get Past Western Albemarle

A remarkable season came to an end for the Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team with a 12-8 loss to Western Albemarle in the Class 4 state championship game on Saturday afternoon at Charlottesville High School.

The Wildcats, the Region 4D champions for the fourth consecutive year, saw their 16-game winning streak come to an end, as the Warriors (200), the Region 4B champions, completed the season undefeated and won their second consecutive state title. RC, which went 16-2 in both 2022 and 2023, finished this spring with a record of 17-2.

It was the fourth year in a row that the Wildcats’ season ended with a loss to Western, which defeated RC in the state semifinals the last three years. Saturday’s contest was RC’s first state title game appearance since the Virginia High School League began sponsoring lacrosse in 2006. The Warriors have consistently defeated the Wildcats over the last four years, and they’re the only team that has beaten RC during that time. Last year, Western beat RC 16-10 in the state semifinals, and the Warriors followed that up with a 15-7 home win over the Wildcats on March 19. Saturday’s loss was RC’s closest loss against WA since the state semifinals two years ago, when the Warriors fended off an RC comeback to win 12-11.

Reflecting on the end of the season, RC head coach Susan Nye said, “It was not the outcome that we wanted, but we had a good run.”

Playing in front of a spirited crowd, the Wildcats got off to a strong start, taking a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game, with Halina Homiak, Lola Mulitalo and Anna Nye each scoring a goal. Just before the end of the first quarter, Western’s Taylor Florin scored to cut RC’s lead to 3-1.

Praising her players for the strong start, Coach Nye said, “I was proud of them in the first quarter, the way we came out.”

“The ‘Cats started the game with several great draw controls and awesome assists for goals,” added Nye. “The first quarter was very promising.”

Just 46 seconds into the second quarter, Maddie Dahl scored on an assist from Homiak to extend RC’s lead to 4-1, but the Warriors, who were coming off a 16-15 win over Meridian in the state semifinals last Wednesday, used their speed and skilled passing game to score six unanswered goals before halftime. Anna Alhusen scored four of those goals, and Western led 7-4 at the break.

The Warriors stayed ahead in the third quarter, going up 9-6, before the Wildcats got goals from Mulitalo and Nye, cutting WA’s lead to 9-8. The Warriors responded with a goal each from Reeve Goldstein and Alhusen to go up 11-8 at the end of the third quarter.

About a minute into the fourth quarter, Maggie Craytor scored from the free position to extend WA’s lead to 12-8. For most of the rest of the quarter, the Warriors took time passing the ball to hold onto the lead.

Coach Nye said she was proud of her team for continuing to fight, but each time they cut it to one goal, they had turnovers that benefited the Warriors. “This game is about possession, so if you have the ball, then your team can score,” she said.

Alhusen led WA with five goals, while Florin and Genevieve Hathaway each scored two goals.

Scoring two goals each and dishing out one assist apiece for the Wildcats were Dahl, Homiak, Mulitalo and Anna Nye.

The Wildcats won the draw control battle, led by Nye with six draw controls.

Defensively, Nye led RC with two caused turnovers, while Dahl, Libba Erskine, Hallie Darmante and Braelyn Polly each had one.

“Our defense had some fabulous stops, but we just seemed to be on defense too often, and then we had some key turnovers in the midfield that Western was able to capitalize on,” said Coach Nye, concluding her sixth year since returning as RC’s head coach.

Starting goalie Emily Humphreys made five saves in goal for RC, and backup goalie Alyssa Hunter made one save. For WA, Maizey McCarthy made four saves.

Reviewing the game, Mulitalo, the Region 4D player of the year, said, “We did really well in the beginning. We were winning. We were leading. We were really patient and knew what we needed to do, and that’s what we fixed. We just got tired. They played better. They outsmarted us a lot.”

Reflecting on the win, WA head coach Peggy Williams, who has guided the Warriors to an undefeated record and two state titles in her first two years at the helm, acknowledged that the Wildcats had “a lot of heart” and were a tough opponent. “We started off a little slow, but credit Rockbridge,” she said. “I was really proud of the girls. They stuck together and stuck to the game plan. We made adjustments after timeouts. At the end, we were able to get the goals when we needed them and then play some tough defense and make stops that we needed to make to end up on top at the end.”

“Rockbridge has improved a lot since we played them at the beginning of the year,” added Williams. “They’re a smart team, they’re well coached, and they hustle.”

The Wildcats, guided by Coach Nye and assistant coach Sammy Moore, will miss their six seniors: Dahl, Darmante, Erskine, Homiak, Nala Shearer and Ciara Staton.

The seniors’ athletic careers aren’t over. Dahl, Erskine and Homiak have all signed national letters of intent to play lacrosse at the college level. Erksine is headed to Division II school Florida Southern College, while Dahl and Homiak have signed with Division III schools, Dahl with Berry College in Georgia and Homiak with Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania. Dahl will also play volleyball, and Shearer will play Division III volleyball at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. Darmante, also a competition cheerleader, will join the brand-new STUNT program at Randolph College in Lynchburg.

After holding up the runnerup trophy, Dahl and Shearer reflected on the championship game and their careers.”

“I think we left it all out there,” said Dahl, an all-region second team midfielder who finished her career with more than 200 draw controls. I definitely think that the underclassmen realized that it’s for the seniors, but they still couldn’t be in our place. This was our last game. It’s nice because we got to play every possible game this year.”

Shearer agreed. “It’s not something everybody gets to do, so it’s a great experience to be here,” she said. “I think we came out really strong, and we didn’t give up.”

An all-region first team attacker who had more than 100 assists and more than 200 points, Shearer said the Warriors were tough because “they play really cohesively. No matter if they’re a man up or a man down, they’re always very constant. They’re a great team. They’re great girls, and they play all year round.”

While she looks forward to playing at the college level, Dahl said she’ll miss her RC teammates and Coach Nye. “I’ve played with a lot of them since the beginning of time, and I’m gonna super miss Susan,” she said. “She’s had a really big impact on my life. She’s really developed me as a player and a person. To go this far with her, it was pretty special. I just wish we could’ve gotten that win for her.”

Shearer, who has played for Coach Nye since she was in the fourth grade, said, “She’s an amazing coach. She’s a role model, and she’s a great friend for us, and I wouldn’t want to play for anyone else.”

“She’s been really good,” added Mulitalo. “She’s helped us a lot. Even when we do have tough losses like this, she understands, and she just keeps us going.

She’s not discouraging us at all.”

Mulitalo, an attacker who notched her 100th career point in April, is one of the players who hope to keep the Wildcats as a state contender next year. Despite graduating the seniors, the future looks bright for the Wildcats. Including Mulitalo, four underclassmen received all-region honors. The others are freshman midfielder Anna Nye, named to the first team, two-second team selections, sophomore defender Nadia Gaydos and freshman attacker Ruby Goodhart.

While looking forward to what the future holds, Coach Nye said she’s glad she’s been able to work with most of the seniors since they were playing for the Lex Lax Lightning youth program. “They’ve just been with us for so long,” she said. “Their dedication to the program is incredible.”