LAURINBURG — One streak ended and another continued for the Richmond Senior High School girls soccer team Thursday.
Both positive outcomes, the Lady Raiders ended a season-long losing streak while also extending its winning stretch over Scotland High School.
In their penultimate regular-season match, the Lady Raiders snapped a four-match skid with an 8-0 shutout victory on Scotland’s senior night.
Richmond took a 3-0 lead into the halftime break before adding five tallies in the second stanza.
The win made it Richmond’s 20th consecutive victory over the Lady Scots, the longest streak of any sport in Richmond’s favor during the two neighboring schools’ longtime rivalry.
Junior goalkeeper Quanna Bostic (66 minutes) and senior backup net minder Jenna Gardner (14 minutes) combined for the clean sheet against the Lady Scots, who haven’t won a Sandhills Athletic Conference game all season.
A scoreless drought of four matches also ended for the Lady Raiders, who were led by a pair of hat tricks.
Senior forward Allie Rodgers scored three goals, her third hat trick of the season, to bring her total to a team-leading 17 goals. She had two in the first half and a final goal early in the second half.
Freshman outside midfielder Colbie Covington had her best single-game performance of her young career, also finding the back of the net three times. Scoring once in the first 40 minutes, she added two more strikes in the second half.
Also scoring in the second half were sophomore defender Jentry Denson and freshman forward Mariana Gonzalez.
The Lady Raiders peppered the net with over two dozen shots in the win and started their scoring in the fifth minute from Rodgers.
Junior Hanna Smith, credited with the assist, passed the ball to Rodgers in the middle of the box. Taking a touch, Rodgers made it 1-0 with a low dart.
Covington showed an early promise of a successful night when she rocketed a shot off the left post a few minutes later. Also getting a blast on frame early on was senior Gabby Lutz.
Making a run down the left side in the 25th minute, Covington reversed course around a defender and slid the ball to Rodgers, who again was open in space inside the 18-yard box.
Connecting on the assist from Covington, Rodgers sent a high strike into the upper right corner of the goal to make it 2-0.
Just 59 seconds after Rodgers’ second tally, Covington scored her first goal of the match. An outlet pass by sophomore Yulissa Avalos (assist) connected with Covington along the left side.
Making a charge into the box, Covington’s footwork finessed her around the keeper, allowing her to tap the ball into a wide-open net.
Sophomore Makayla Brown made the final few minutes of the first half interesting, as she put a couple of shots on frame.
Starting the second half with a three-goal lead, Rodgers cemented her hat trick with a one-timer following a back post run in the 46th minute.
Smith, credited with her second helper, passed the ball across the goal mouth right to left through traffic, finding Rodgers along the left post. She blasted the ball into the net from a few yards out.
The Lady Raiders’ next two goals both came courtesy of Covington in the 49th and 56th minutes.
Covington’s second goal of the match was a solo run down the middle of the field, which resulted in a goal from about 15 yards.
Lutz (assist) helped the next scoring play get started when she passed the ball to Covington along the left side of the field. Making a move, Covington sent a tight-angled shot on frame, which deflected off the keeper’s hands and into the goal, her fourth tally this season.
With the 6-0 lead, head coach Chris Larsen continued to mix up the Lady Raiders’ lineup. Senior Nevaeh Harris, normally a defender, made a pair of runs down the left side and put two shots on net.
On a ball dropped back to Denson in the 62nd minute, she gave herself some space and relied on her specialty, lasering a 35-yard strike to make it 7-0, her third goal this spring. Sophomore Nola O’Neal, who sent the ball to Denson, got the assist.
Between that goal and Richmond’s final tally, Gardner entered the net. All smiles, she scooped up a couple of loose passes and stood tall to make a quality save in the 71st minute to keep the shutout intact.
With the clock winding inside of the final three minutes, Gonzalez sent a low shot from inside the box into the net to extend Richmod’s lead to 8-0. It was her fifth goal this season.
Weather pending, the Lady Raiders (8-10-3, 4-6-1 SAC) will end their regular season Friday on the road at Lee County High School (17-4, 9-2 SAC). The varsity only match will begin at 6 p.m.
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Thursday’s win over Scotland soon.
