WINTERVILLE, N.C. — The Richmond Senior High School boys’ soccer team made its return to the NCHSAA 4A state playoffs on Tuesday after missing out last season.
Slated as the No. 16 seed in the East bracket, head coach Chris Larsen said the Raiders put up a good fight against No. 1 South Central High School, but Richmond was eliminated in a 3-0 decision.
South Central used two goals in the first half (17th and 25th minutes) and another in the second stanza (62nd minute) to advance to the second round. Scoring for the Falcons were David Calhoun, Ryan Davis and Kevin Sorto.
Battling wet field conditions and what Larsen called a “tighter field,” Richmond finished the game with 10 shots on net against goalkeeper Collin Suggs. Junior Alex Medina had a team-high three shots on frame and fellow junior Luke Williams added two.
Seniors Hector Castro and River Meacham, junior Pedro Molina, sophomore Ty Murray and freshman Jesus Castro each tallied one shot on net.
“I don’t think we played bad, but we just needed our ‘A game’ tonight and didn’t have it,” Larsen explained. “South Central is a quality team, but I think they were on the lucky end of a bounce or two.
“I told the guys they can’t let one game dictate the season,” he added. “It sucks to lose this one, but we made it into the playoffs in a small selection year, which says a lot about our success.”
Anticipating the Falcons to have a lot of speed out of the gate, Larsen said a couple of miscommunications early on led to the first goal. But he noted Richmond made the necessary adjustments to slow down South Central’s offense for the better part of the game.
Part of Richmond’s game plan was to spread the field against the Falcons, a tactic that has worked well this season. Larsen explained Richmond didn’t execute the scheme well early, but it did lead to some scoring chances later in the match.
The Raiders’ best attempt on net in the first half came in the closing minutes when Meacham crossed the ball to Murray, whose shot sailed just above the crossbar.
Medina and Williams also produced shot attempts from a distance, and Williams had “a couple of headers that went just past the post.”
Noting the team put together a collective effort on both sides of the ball despite the loss, Larsen highlighted senior Bryan Stanback’s contributions in the middle of the field. Normally a center back, Stanback was moved into the midfield to stick with Davis, and effectively limited Davis’ movement in the field.
“We placed third in the conference this year and really battled hard for that spot,” Larsen said. “The guys were able to check off two boxes by improving in the standings and making it back to the playoffs. We now need to focus on getting a playoff win, which we haven’t had in a while.”
Tuesday’s loss concluded the high school careers of eight seniors. They were Hector Castro, Meacham, Stanback, Noah Aiken, Jay Ammons, Cale Luckey, Jaxon Mabe and Bradford Pittman.
Larsen applauded the senior class’ efforts this winter during an unconventional season, praising their dedication to the sport and the knowledge the eight players demonstrated.
“We had some really good seniors who carried our team and educated the underclassmen,” Larsen closed. “There were also a lot of juniors who stepped up and got a lot of quality minutes under belt. We’ll be back back before we know it in August.”
Richmond finished the season with a 9-5-1 overall record. South Central (7-4) will play No. 8 Cardinal Gibbons High School (10-2-1) in the second round of the state tournament.
