SANFORD — Starting its run in the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament on Tuesday, the Lady Raider soccer team advanced to the second round thanks to a fast start.
A night after earning a win to close the regular season, the No. 5 Lady Raiders upset No. 4 Southern Lee High School 4-2 on the road.
Richmond used four different goal scorers and jumped out to a 3-1 lead at halftime.
“It’s amazing what a 24-hour difference can do,” head coach Chris Larsen said. “We were a team with a purpose and came out from the opening whistle and played hard. We had two early goals to set the tone that put us on a good foot forward.
“Southern Lee did a good job to tighten it up, but our girls responded and gave ourselves a two-goal cushion late in the game,” he added. “Knowing how much we’ll play this week, I played as many girls as I could to switch some things up to be ready for tomorrow.”
The Lady Raiders scored two goals in the opening 10 minutes, starting with junior Cheyenne Jacobs. Sophomore teammate Allie Rodgers, who got the assist, started a run down the left side.
Rodgers sent a cross into the box along the back post, where Jacobs took a touch and sent it into the net for a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.
Adding a goal just three minutes later, Rodgers put Richmond up 2-0. Taking a touch inside the 18-yard box, Rodgers shielded a defender off her back and laced a shot from close range.
Southern Lee (6-10-1, 5-7 SAC) closed the gap with a goal in the 13th minute.
Continuing the fast start, junior Jennifer Gomez put Richmond back up two tallies in the 20th minute.
Similar to Jacobs’ goal, Gomez was unmarked and collected a loose ball along the far post before putting it in the net.
The Lady Cavaliers were the first to score in the second half, making it a one-goal deficit in the 47th minute.
But junior Karter Walker extended the Lady Raiders’ lead with an insurance goal in the 59th minute.
Jacobs started the play by taking a corner kick from the left side and sent a cross into the box. After hitting a couple of players, Walker corralled the ball and knocked it backside to ice the win.
Larsen noted that Richmond had two chances to put it away on penalty kicks, and that Southern Lee also missed one.
“Both teams had chances to pull away, and our girls had to battle it out tonight,” Larsen closed. “I’m proud of the way they played and we live to play again tomorrow.”
The No. 5 Lady Raiders (10-10-1, 5-7-1 SAC) will travel to No. 1 Pinecrest High School (12-7-2, 11-1 SAC) for the SAC tournament semifinals on Wednesday. The game will start at 7 p.m.
