The Salem High boys’ lacrosse team is on a roll. Since losing to nationally ranked St. Anne’s-Bellfield on April 22nd the Spartans have won four straight and outscored their opponents by a combined 76-6.
Salem downed two rivals in the past week by lopsided scores. The beat Rockbridge, who was a challenge not many years ago, 22-2 at Spartan Field last Thursday then shut out Hidden Valley, 24-0, in Salem on Monday.
In the Rockbridge game the Spartans opened a 17-1 lead at the half and called off the dogs. Holden Custer finished with four goals to lead the Spartans while Wade Marble had three. Jackson Wininger had two goals and four assists, Jackson Jones and Logan Sparks had two goals each and nine other Spartans had one goal each. Ryan Warren won 15 of 16 faceoffs to keep Salem in control of the ball.
On Monday at Spartan Field Richard Hof and Jack Ellis only had to make a combined three saves to shutout Hidden Valley. They rarely had possession as Warren dominated the faceoffs again, winning 12 of 14.
Parker Dallas had five goals and four assists to lead the Salem offense while Jones scored twice and handed out five dimes. Custer had three goals and scoring two each were Sparks, Wininger and Tucker Preas.
With the win Salem is now 9-2 and the Spartans have not lost to a Virginia High School League team, falling only to two private school lacrosse powerhouses. The Salemites will face off again tonight against William Byrd at 7:15 pm at Vinton’s Robert A. Patterson Stadium. Next Monday they’ll host Blacksburg at 7 pm.
