ROCKINGHAM — Returning to the win column on Monday, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ soccer team resorted back to its style of play in the process.
Welcoming in Jack Britt High School, the Lady Raiders used two successful runs down opposite wings to earn a 2-1 victory.
It marked Richmond’s seventh-straight win over the Lady Buccaneers dating back to April 2018.
Junior midfielder Kaitlyn Huff would tally a goal, her team-leading third score of the season, and an assist. Netting the game-winner was junior Talayeh Covington, and fellow junior midfielder Ellie Buck nabbed an assist on Huff’s goal.
Richmond’s Sandhills Athletic Conference win came five days after a shutout loss to Pinecrest High School. Head coach Chris Larsen said the Lady Raiders showed improvement and responded well after their first loss of the season.
“We played better tonight and we’re learning from our previous two games,” Larsen said. “The girls are starting to understand what we want to do in terms of using the field and passing the ball. We’re taking steps and the team is growing, but these girls lost a year of playing together, and that’s showing early in the season.
“It was a physical game, a lot of body-to-body contact,” he added. “The girls did what they know is right, but not under a lot of control, which caused some of those collisions. We were lucky to get out with a victory tonight.”
For much of the first half, the two teams traded runs and shots on frame. Huff and senior striker Jayla McDougald each had four shots for Richmond in the opening 40 minutes, while senior goalkeeper Kelly Hoffman stopped all four of Jack Britt’s shots.
Buck and Huff worked together to put Richmond up 1-0 in the 37th minute. Off a restart, Buck played a through ball down the right side of the field and dribbled deep into Jack Britt’s zone near the right corner.
She slid the ball over to Huff at the top of the 18-yard box, who one-time the ball high and left past senior goalkeeper Rebecca Karis.
“It feels amazing to get this win tonight, especially since Jack Britt is such a good team,” Buck said. “Getting this win will give us the confidence we need to push forward.
“I dribbled to the top of the right corner and saw there was an open space on the 18 and slid it so it would be a quick one-touch for Huff,” she added of her first assist of the season. “I’m really glad we could both work together and use our strengths to have a successful goal.”
That score would hold until halftime, but it was Jack Britt’s Dayna Kenworthy who knotted the game in the 49th minute. Going one-on-one with Hoffman in the box, she knocked a roller past a diving Hoffman to make it 1-1.
Less than two minutes later, Hoffman stood tall by coming out of her box and made a sliding block save on a driving Marion Ray. Jack Britt (2-1) would add four shots in the second half, two going off the crossbar, but Hoffman was able to corral the ball both times.
In the 61st minute, Covington netted her first varsity goal on an assist from Huff. Working down the left side, Huff mirrored Buck’s run on her goal and made a pass into the box to Covington.
Covington, Karis and a Jack Britt defender all converged on the ball, but it was Covington who got there first and tapped the shot in for the eventual game-winning mark.
Richmond put 12 shots on net in the win, including a game-high five from McDougald. Huff had four, sophomore Jennifer Gomez had two and Covington added one shot.
“Our style of play is we like to get the ball wide and open up the wings a little bit,” Larsen explained. “We talk in practice about getting the ball all the way down and sliding it across, and hopefully somebody is at the top of the 18-yard box. That worked twice for us tonight.
“We’ll take the win and run with it,” Larsen closed. “And our focus will be to improve on some fundamentals when Hoke comes in on Wednesday.”
The Lady Raiders (2-1) return home Wednesday for another SAC match against Hoke County High School (2-0). Play will get underway at 7 p.m.
Big second half helps JV Lady Raiders blank Union Pines
Also in action Monday was the Lady Raider junior varsity soccer team, playing on the road at non-conference Union Pines High School.
A five-goal second half propelled the Lady Raiders to a 6-0 victory to even their record a 1-1. Freshman Allie Rodgers recorded a hat trick and now has four goals on the season.
Freshman Gabby Lutz lit the lamp twice in the victory, her first two goals of the year, and sophomore C’Nedra Hinson tacked on the late insurance goal.
The JV Lady Raiders will also host Hoke County on Wednesday, beginning at 5 p.m.
