ROCKINGHAM — Spring break afforded the Richmond Senior High School girls’ soccer team an 11-day hiatus between its last game and Monday’s regular-season finale.
With the break behind them, the Lady Raiders and head coach Chris Larsen are back to being focused on closing out Sandhills Athletic Conference play and gearing up for the annual conference tournament.
On April 18, the final day of school ahead of break, the Lady Raiders traveled to Scotland High School and took down the Lady Fighting Scots 4-1 to extend their winning streak to four games. That stretch of wins helped Richmond (13-3, 11-2 SAC) lock up the No. 2 seed in the conference standings behind Pinecrest High School (19-0-1, 13-0 SAC).
“The biggest thing about break was letting girls heal and rest up from a crazy stretch before break with a bunch of games,” Larsen said. “I think it’s good for the girls to get away from it for a little while and come back refreshed and eager to play.
“We got a majority of the team together on Friday and knocked the ball around to get back in the swing of things,” he added. “It’s going to take us some time to get back into it, we just need to build some momentum for the rest of the week and carry that over into a couple rounds of the state playoffs.”
With fresh legs, the Lady Raiders will return to the pitch Monday when they travel to third-place Jack Britt High School. Currently, Richmond holds a two-game lead over the Lady Buccaneers (10-5, 9-4 SAC) in the SAC standings.
It will be the second meeting of the two teams this season, as the Lady Raiders won the first matchup on their home field, 3-2 in penalty kicks. Senior Morgan Hooks drilled the game-winning PK in what was then a crucial game for conference tournament seeding.
Monday’s outcome will not have an effect on Richmond’s standings moving forward, but would impact Jack Britt and fourth-place Purnell Swett High School for state playoffs.
Jack Britt has a one-game lead on the Lady Rams, but Larsen explained for state playoff purposes, the two teams “would likely flip a coin” to determine conference tournament seeding, which would in turn help the higher seed get into the state playoffs easier.
Although his team is locked into its conference tournament seeding, Larsen still has high expectations for his players, with hopes of climbing the ladder in the current playoff seedings.
“There’s more riding on Monday for Jack Britt, so we know they’ll bring their ‘A game’,” Larsen said. “They’re a physical team from the first whistle to last whistle, and they’re not going to give up.
“Whoever we face in the conference tournament, whether it’s Jack Britt or Purnell Swett, we’ll hopefully have beaten them twice,” he added. “I know it’s going to be a tough week. Hopefully we’ll have three games this week to help us be successful moving forward.”
Because of weather postponements earlier in the spring, and with Monday serving as a makeup date for several SAC programs, this season’s SAC tournament will feature just the top four teams. That means Hoke County, Lumberton, Scotland and Seventy-First high schools’ seasons are done following Monday’s games.
Richmond has made it to the SAC tournament championship in each of the last two seasons, but has fallen to Pinecrest both times. Currently, the Lady Raiders are ranked as the No. 15 team in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s adjusted Maxpreps 4A rankings.
Kickoff against Jack Britt is set for Monday at 7 p.m. in Fayetteville. The SAC tournament will begin Wednesday, with the Lady Raiders hosting either Jack Britt or Purnell Swett.
