LAURINBURG — One last match to decide the final Sandhills Athletic Conference standings took place at a neutral site Tuesday.
The Richmond Senior High School boys’ soccer team faced Hoke County High School for the third time this season, playing the finale at Scotland High School.
After splitting the regular-season series, the Raiders and Bucks ended with identical conference records. In lieu of a conference tournament, a one-match tiebreaker was played to decide fifth and sixth place in the standings.
Bursts of scoring by both teams highlighted the second half, but unfortunately for head coach Chris Larsen and the Raiders, they lost 4-2.
A scoreless first half yielded all six goals in the final 40 minutes. Each team scored back-to-back goals before the Bucks secured the win with the final two tallies.
Scoring for Richmond were senior Gonzalo Gonzalez and junior Cayden Gillenwater, who netted his first career varsity goal.
The first 10 minutes of the opening half moved in Hoke County’s favor, which required senior goalkeeper Adrian Padron to make a series of stops. He made a diving save on a sharp-angled shot in the sixth minute.
Senior forward Erik Reichert had the Raiders’ first look on goal, sending a shot into the keeper’s hands in the eighth minute.
Padron kept the game scoreless when he came off his line and made a 1v1 save in the 14th minute. The second 10-minute stretch of the half belonged to Richmond, which saw junior outside back Elen Fonseca go just wide from the left side of the box on a pair of shots in the 17th and 18th minutes.
Both teams traded possessions for the remainder of the half. Padron’s part of the field remained mostly quiet thanks to the Richmond midfield gaining and maintaining possession.
Senior Gui Romero and Fonseca had two quality chances before the break. Romero’s shot from the top of the box in the 27th minute went over the crossbar.
Fonseca’s third look in the half was just left again, this one on a cross by Gillenwater, who sent it from the right side to the back post.
An early burst of energy by Hoke County (11-9-2, 5-7-1 SAC) resulted in two goals in three minutes to start the second half. Pedro Ramos-Alejandro scored both goals inside the 18-yard box in the 41st and 43rd minutes.
Fonseca, who was all around the goal Tuesday, nearly cut the deficit in half in the 49th minute. He sent a strike that was tipped just over the bar and had a header attempt on net on the ensuing corner kick by senior Landon Summerlin.
Those two chances shifted the momentum in Richmond’s favor, which would tally goals in the 54th and 67th minutes to make it a new ball game.
Gonzalez scored the first goal, his fifth of the season, on a penalty kick, which was awarded after Hoke County was whistled for a foul in the box.
Using his right foot, Gonzalez threaded his shot between the right post and a diving keeper.
Richmond’s next goal was helped by a turnover by Mando Zuniga in the defensive end, which led to a throw-in. Senior Noah Gil started the run by finessing his way through traffic and getting a shot off inside of 10 yards.
Gil’s shot was initially saved but bounced out to the keeper’s left, which is where Gillenwater intercepted it inside the six-yard box and booted it into the net to give the Raiders new life.
Richmond’s surge didn’t last long, as Hoke County netted the eventual game-winning goal in the 72nd minute, a header by Carson Hewitt.
Adding an insurance goal in the 76th minute, Hewitt scored again in a congested box.
With Tuesday’s loss, the Raiders finished the 2024 season with a 5-15-2 overall record. Within the SAC, Richmond placed sixth out of seven teams with a 4-8-1 mark.
Leading the team in goals this season was Gil, who had nine total (seven goals, two penalty kicks). Gonzalez was second with five goals (one goal, four PKs), followed by Summerlin (two goals, one PK) and junior Memphis Jacobs (three goals).
Sophomore Patrick Smith ended the season with two goals.
Tuesday’s match was the final high school match for the team’s seven seniors — Gil, Gonzalez, Padron, Summerlin, Eeichert, Romero and Daryan Mendez.
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Tuesday’s season finale soon.
