FAYETTEVILLE — The final 90 seconds of Wednesday’s non-conference soccer match featured two goals, the latter of which helped the Richmond Raiders earn their first win of the season.
After giving up a one-goal lead with less than two minutes to play against Pine Forest High School, junior midfielder Ayden Mabe delivered the game-winning goal for the Raiders.
Rebounding from Tuesday’s season-opening loss, Richmond defeated the Trojans 4-3.
“Jesus (Castro) played a great ball over the top and the keeper bounced it out,” Mabe explained of his first career varsity goal. “And I was in the right position to score.
“It feels really good to be able to get a quality win coming off of last night’s loss,” he added. “I feel like we fixed a lot of mistakes and got the job done to get the win.”
Pine Forest committed a foul 35 yards out, which allowed Castro to take the free kick. He sent the ball on frame and goalkeeper Alex Oetker made the initial stop before Mabe chipped the loose ball into the nearside of the net.
Head coach Chris Larsen said the Raiders were able to overcome some tired legs late in the game thanks to the way they played for the majority of the 80 minutes.
“This is a big win for us, and any time you can beat a good team like Pine Forest, it’s good for the program,” Larsen commented. “The big thing tonight is we possessed the ball really well and knocked it around to make some good connecting passes.
“The guys also worked off one another and got bodies forward to the goal,” he added. “With such a strong returning midfield with guys like Alex Medina, Pedro Molina, Jesus Castro and Luke Williams, we’re putting together some good runs on net.”
The Raiders took an early 2-0 lead in the first half, starting with Williams netting his second goal in as many games. Medina made a pass to Williams in the middle of the field, who found twine in the 10th minute.
Medina made a charge down the left side of the field six minutes later to make it a two-goal lead, lacing a shot from inside the 18-yard box across the frame to the back post. It was his first goal of the campaign.
Pine Forest cut its deficit in half before the end of the opening 40 minutes on what Larsen called a “miscommunication” by the Raiders’ defense.
To open the second half, Castro finished a tic-tac-toe series of passes from Medina and Williams to make it 3-1.
Medina moved around a defender and found Williams, who slid the ball back across the six-yard box to Castro in front of the net for the assist.
The Trojans (0-1) scored the next two goals, the first on a free kick following a Richmond foul. Before the Raiders could get their defensive wall in place, Pine Forest took a shot to make it 3-2.
Inside the final two minutes, another Pine Forest goal, this one a redirect after a stop by senior goalkeeper Ian Williams, tied the match.
Scoring two of the Trojans’ goals was Josue Fernandez and adding the other was Aiden Ditmore.
“The guys are playing very well and doing what I want them to do,” Larsen said. “Playing back-to-back nights saw some tired legs and mental lapses late, but we finished the way we wanted to. Tonight’s game will make us stronger the rest of the year.
“We’ll get some rest and hopefully have a good practice on Monday to prepare for East Mecklenburg,” he closed. “They play a different level of soccer, so it should be a good experience.”
The Raiders’ (1-1) next match will be a trip to non-conference East Mecklenburg High School (0-1) on Tuesday, starting at 7 p.m.
Note: The video of the game-winning goal was contributed by Shannon Mabe.
JV Raiders collect second-straight win to start season
Using six different goal scorers, the junior varsity Raider soccer team blanked Pine Forest 6-0 on Wednesday.
Scoring for the JV Raiders were sophomores Andrew Conyers, James Eason and Noah Williams, along with freshmen Noah Gil, Gonzalo Gonzalez and Daryen Mendez.
Gonzalez and Williams also recorded one assist each. Richmond jumped out to a 4-0 lead before halftime.
Head coach Bennie Howard and the JV Raiders (2-0) will also travel to East Mecklenburg on Tuesday, beginning at 5 p.m.
