ROCKINGHAM — A scare in the final four and a half minutes of the first half of Monday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference soccer match between Richmond and Seventy-First high schools was short-lived for the Raiders, as three unanswered goals in the second half would be enough to secure the win.
Back in action at home and looking to restart after their slowest start since 2013, the Raiders picked up a much needed 5-2 victory over the visiting Falcons to snap a three-game losing streak. Junior Noah Aiken would be pushed up to forward from his normal midfield position, and it paid off as he netted his first two career varsity goals.
Second-year head coach Chris Larsen has been adamant during his team’s slow start to the season that the necessity to find the back of the net was crucial for a turnaround. The Raiders (2-7-1, 2-3 SAC) responded with five goals, nearly doubling their season total of seven goals through the first nine matches.
Senior Lee Hayden would notch his team-leading fourth goal of the season, and seniors Luke Hawks and Noah Jordan each tallied one goal in the second half to keep the Falcons (4-6, 0-6 SAC) winless in conference play.
“I’m happy that we won, but I was honest with them when I told the guys I wasn’t happy with the way we played,” Larsen said. “I counted five or six chances in the first half where it was a one-on-one or we had a window to take a shot and we didn’t do it.
“We should have had at least four goals in the first half,” he continued. “I was happy for Noah (Aiken) because he came off the bench and played forward for the first time this year. He came out and lit a spark for us and we were able to carry that momentum.”
Ahead of the game, Larsen said he and the team talked about not necessarily making “highlight reel goals,” but instead said the focus should be on putting the ball on frame and making Seventy-First’s goalkeeper Zakion Dillard make tough saves.
The Raiders responded with putting a season-high 20 shots on net, seeing five get past Dillard. Richmond’s defense limited the Falcons to just six shots in the 80 minutes of play.
Hayden would score the game’s first goal in the ninth minute on an odd-man rush into the box. Jordan sent an outlet pass to Hayden, and was credited with an assist, when Hayden beat a defender and a charging Dillard before tapping the ball into a wide-open net.
Just six minutes later, Aiken would score his first goal of the night, making a charge down the left side of the field. Fellow junior Karym Ojeda sent a through ball to Aiken inside the 18-yard box, and he beat Dillard on a shot to the far post.
With 24:32 left in the opening half, Richmond led 2-0. But in the closing 4:34 of the first 40 minutes, goals by Lansse Conte (36th minute) and Khalil Collazo (40th minute) knotted the game at the half.
Out of the break, bangers from junior Hector Castro, Hawks and Aiken all made it on frame in the opening 12 minutes, but failed to get past Dillard. In the 55th minute, Aiken would tally his final goal, the eventual game-winning mark, thanks to an assist from junior Bradford Pittman.
Pittman carried the offense across midfield and down the right sideline before lacing a pass through traffic to Aiken for his first varsity-level assist, who spun and sent a hard grounder to the far post past a diving keeper.
“It wasn’t all me tonight,” Aiken said of his career night. “The work we’re putting in during practice and my teammates helped me score. It feels good to see our work in practice pay off, and thankfully I was there tonight to find the back of the net.
“The first goal I set myself in the middle and I expected a pass (from Karym), and that’s exactly what happened,” he explained. “Bradford brought the ball in on the second one, and I felt the defender on my back so I turned to my right and took a shot on net. I was just in the right place at the right time tonight.”
Adding insurance goals for Richmond were Hawks (64th minute) and Jordan (67th minute). Hawks’ was a similar goal to Aiken’s second, taking a pass from junior Cale Luckey, his first career varsity assist, and sending a bouncing shot to the far post. Jordan netted his first goal of the season on a header inside the six-yard box, muscling his way up and over two defenders and Dillard to nod the ball into the net.
“I’m glad we had a lot of opportunities tonight, but I hope the guys continue to see how important it is we capitalize on them from here on out,” Larsen said. “We did a better job with our shots-to-goal percentage in the second half.
“We did things better tonight like make good touches, move the ball around and get bodies forward, which we haven’t done well the last couple games,” he closed. “Now we have Scotland and Lee County to end the week and we’ll take tonight and hopefully use the win and carry it over into our next two games.”
Richmond, which currently sits in fifth place in the SAC standings, will travel to seventh-place Scotland (3-7-1, 1-5 SAC) on Wednesday and play non-conference Lee County (2-6) on the road Thursday. Both games will start at 7 p.m.
