Home Local Sports Raiders draw even with Forest Hills to cap first week

Raiders draw even with Forest Hills to cap first week

Junior James Eason, shown heading a ball during Thursday's match, scored in the second half. (Kyle Pillar, sports editor)

MARSHVILLE — Back in action for the second night in a row, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ soccer team traveled to Forest Hills on Thursday.

The non-conference match ended in a 1-1 draw, with each team scoring a goal on either side of the half.

Richmond started the game with a high-energy offense, making several runs on net in the first half. 

The Raiders had two chances on net in the sixth minute, starting when junior Jesus Castro sent a free kick from 20 yards on net that was saved.

Off the rebound, senior center back Ayden Mabe slid a pass to sophomore forward Noah Gil in the box, but the one-timer was stopped.

Sophomore midfielder Landon Summerlin hooked a shot on frame in the 16th minute, and senior goalkeeper Ethan McDonald made the first of his handful of first-half saves with a diving block in the 20th minute.

The Yellow Jackets (1-0-1) found the back of the net first, capitalizing on a second-chance opportunity in the 23rd minute. Edgar Cruz collected a rebound and scored to make it a 1-0 lead.

Junior forward James Eason nearly knotted the game on a corner kick from the right side in the 24th minute, and sent another shot on frame in the 27th minute.

Senior Jullian Cline also made a nice run on net in the 34th minute, seeing a pass from Summerlin land at his feet, but was scooped up by the keeper.

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McDonald limited the Yellow Jackets to just one goal, making another diving save in the 35th minute and grabbing a shot on a free kick with 10 seconds left before the break.

Eason and the Raiders would be rewarded midway through the second half, finding the net on a scrum around the goal in the 59th minute. It was Eason’s and the team’s first goal of the season.

“We were able to muster up some danger in front of their goal,” head coach Chris Larsen explained. “It was a give-and-go into the middle of the box. The ball rebounded into a scrum and James collected it and beat the keeper.”

The remaining 21 minutes of regulation saw both teams trade opportunities but no other goals were scored. Because it was a non-conference match, overtime wasn’t played.

“We played about the same as we did against Montgomery Central and we had a lot of opportunities around the net,” Larse said. “The last two nights, we’ve moved the ball around really well, and just two mistakes led to two goals.

“Without those, we could have two wins,” he added. “The guys are playing well and the more we do what we’re supposed to do, the better off we’re going to be. If we can minimize small errors, we’re going to settle in and have some success.”

Richmond (0-1-1) is set to host non-conference Independence High School in its home opener on Monday at 7 p.m. 

That will be followed by another non-conference home game against Purnell Swett on Wednesday.

Note: The Richmond junior varsity soccer team didn’t play on Thursday. The JV Raiders will host Independence on Monday at 5 p.m.



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Kyle Pillar is a 22-time North Carolina Press Association award-winning sports editor with The Richmond Observer. Follow the sports department on X @ROSports_ for the best in-depth coverage of Richmond County sports.