SANFORD — Facing the Sandhills Athletic Conference leader on Wednesday, the Richmond boys’ soccer team couldn’t pull off the late-season upset.
On the road at Lee County High School, the Raiders followed a similar script as their first meeting with the Yellow Jackets.
Taking a scoreless tie into the half, Richmond collapsed in the final 40 minutes to lose 5-0.
In their first matchup last month, a 1-1 tie at the half resulted in a 6-1 defeat for the Raiders.
“I thought the guys played a great first half,” head coach Chris Larsen said. “We actually scored a goal but it was waved off due to a really close offsides call.
“Lee County dominated possession and we were in our defensive third a majority of the time, but we created some chances, which was good to see.”
The Yellow Jackets (14-4, 9-1 SAC) scored on a free kick in the 45th minute just outside the box. That was followed by a fast break goal a minute later to extend the lead to 2-0.
Goals in the 56th and 59th minutes doubled Richmond’s deficit, and the final tally for Lee County came in the 64th minute.
“We lost our intensity after going down two goals,” Larsen said. “We started the second half with some pep in our step and even after the stellar quality of the first goal, we didn’t hang our heads.
“But the second goal a minute later led to the wheels falling off,” he closed. “We have to get this behind us and hopefully finish the season strong with some victories next week.”
The Raiders (8-8-1, 4-5-1 SAC) will close the regular season with three matches next week, starting with a road trip to non-conference East Mecklenburg High School (7-8-2) on Monday.
That will be followed by senior night on Wednesday at home against Scotland and a make-up game at Pinecrest on Thursday. All three matches will start at 7 p.m.
JV Raiders also lose
In junior varsity action, the score was much closer but the JV Raiders suffered a 2-1 loss at Lee County.
Also scoreless at the half, Lee County struck first with 23 minutes remaining in the game. But less than 50 seconds later, sophomore Erick Jimenez scored for Richmond to knot the score.
The game-winning goal for the JV Yellow Jackets was a result of a foul in the box and a penalty kick with 18:49 to play.
“They played well and knocked the ball around,” head coach Bennie Howard said. “It was just an unfortunate call with the PK. We had chances but couldn’t capitalize.”
The JV Raiders (7-4-4, 4-3-2 SAC) will travel to East Mecklenburg on Monday and start at 5 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: Andy Summerlin, Bennie Howard and Chris Larsen contributed to this article.
