ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior High School boys’ soccer team will be taking things one game at a time when the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament begins on Monday.
That’s because, as of the most recent North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s adjusted rankings, the Raiders are on the outside looking in at the 4A state playoffs. Which brings to the forefront the importance of the coming days for Richmond and second-year head coach Chris Larsen.
Following a strong week that saw the Raiders complete the regular-season series sweeps of Seventy-First and Scotland High School, both of which were shutout wins, Richmond locked up the No. 3 spot in the SAC standings. It’s the second season in a row the Raiders (9-9-2, 9-5 SAC) finished third, and they’ll be looking to win the conference postseason tournament to leapfrog into the playoffs.
Up first will be No. 6 Purnell Swett High School (7-15, 4-10 SAC), a team the Raiders beat twice during the regular season. The Raiders and Rams will square off in the opening round on Monday.
“The biggest thing going into this week is the way the playoff projections sit, nothing is guaranteed,” Larsen said. “Only the top two teams in the conference are guaranteed a playoff spot, but so is the conference tournament winner.
“Right now we’re a bubble team, and we have to have a good week this week to squeeze in,” he continued. “I think if we can pick up two quality wins or win the whole thing, that’ll get us past the bubble. This is our biggest week of the season.”
Richmond has gotten better as the SAC portion of its schedule progressed. The Raiders have won nine of their 14 conference games, including eight of their last 10 games. They’ve outscored their opponents 21-15 during that stretch, which is something Larsen hopes to see his team continue.
A dozen players on this year’s team bring with them one year of postseason experience, but current seniors Lee Hayden, Noah Jordan and Joey Nicholson all have two seasons’ worth. It’s that senior leadership and a mixture of players finding a scoring streak that Larsen believes could power the Raiders into the state playoffs for the fifth time in six years.
“We’ve had some guys have hot weeks,” Larsen recalled. “Lee and Noah both had two goals in a game recently, and Noah Aiken came up big a couple weeks ago. We don’t have one or two dominant scorers, so we need our experience to step up and have a hot foot. It should be an exciting and competitive week for the conference.
When the Rams visit Rockingham, the Raiders will look to defeat Purnell Swett for the 16th straight time dating back to 2013. The Rams’ best player is senior goalkeeper Nick Ramirez, who has carried the weight for his team this season.
In the two teams’ first meeting on Sept. 30, a 2-1 Richmond win, Hayden and senior Cole Deane each scored a goal. Three nights later, another 2-1 Raider victory, senior Luke Hawks and junior Karym Ojeda found the back of the net.
“The conference tournament is a fresh start,” Larsen said. “I never felt like we were ever out of any of our regular season conference games. I hope the guys show up ready to play, and we know all the games are going to be dog fights.
“Purnell Swett’s going to come in and fight to the end,” he added. “(Ramirez) is a good keeper in the back, so I hope we can move past them and play Tuesday night.”
Should Richmond win, the Raiders would play the winner of the No. 2 Pinecrest and No. 7 Seventy-First game. The SAC title game is scheduled for Wednesday. Last season, Richmond was knocked out in the first round in a 2-1 loss to Hoke County High School.
Kickoff against Purnell Swett is set for 6 p.m. on Monday at Richmond.
