ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior High School junior varsity boys’ soccer team blasted its way into the win column on Tuesday.
Returning to action for the first time in eight days, the JV Raiders blanked Central Academy 7-0.
Using four different goal scorers, Richmond and head coach Bennie Howard scored four goals in the first half, before adding three more in the final 35 minutes.
A trio of freshmen would each score two goals in the win — Cayden Gillenwater, Jose Garcia and Memphis Jacobs. Adding the final tally was fellow freshman Izzy DeJesus.
Jacobs and Gillenwater padded their performance by combining for four assists — three from Jacobs and one from Gillenwater.
Goalkeepers Gavin Applewhite and Robert Ammons both played one half of shutout soccer between the posts for Richmond.
“I hope tonight’s performance wasn’t a one-hit wonder and that we learned that things work if we apply ourselves and do what we work on in practice,” Howard said. “Hopefully this will carry over into the next game and we will continue to improve. We’re happy to get that first win.
“Memphis played really unselfishly tonight,” he added. “Cayden and Jose both had two nice goals, and Izzy scoring late was nice. It’s great having multiple players score because we don’t have to rely on just one person to score.”
Gillenwater started the scoring in the seventh minute, tapping in a shot in front of the net following a slide through the box from Jacobs.
Making it 2-0 in the 10th minute was Garcia’s first tally, taking a shot from the center of the box and putting it inside the left corner. Jacobs was also credited with the assist on that goal.
In the 16th minute, Jacobs was rewarded for his hard work with a goal. Similar to Garcia’s goal, Jacobs took a touch in the box and beat the keeper to the left post.
Less than a minute later, Jacobs made a run on frame and his blocked shot trickled to Garcia, who booted the ball into the net to make it 4-0.
Richmond’s second-half goals came in the 47th, 49th and 65th minutes. Gillenwater started the scoring with a dart from the left side of the 18-yard box, placing it along the back corner for his second goal.
Two minutes later, Gillenwater fed Jacobs a pass from close range, which was slotted into the net to give the JV Raiders a six-goal advantage.
With the clock winding, DeJesus added an insurance tally on a second chance opportunity for his first goal of the season.
The JV Raiders (1-1-1) will travel to non-conference Lumberton High School on Thursday to make up a rain out from earlier this season. Play is set to begin at 5 p.m.
Note: The varsity soccer team didn’t play on Tuesday and will open Sandhills Athletic Conference play at Southern Lee High School on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
