ROCKINGHAM — Facing a familiar foe to open its season on Tuesday, the Richmond Raider soccer team let a halftime tie get away in the final 40 minutes against Lumberton High School.
The Raiders entered halftime tied with the Pirates 1-1, but three unanswered goals by Lumberton in the second half resulted in a 4-1 loss.
Head coach Chris Larsen noted that while the team didn’t get the outcome it wanted, playing a tough first game will serve as a learning experience for the Raiders.
“I saw some things done tonight that I wanted to improve on from our scrimmages and practices,” Larsen said. “We made some good runs and we had more chances than what we had consistently last year.
“The guys played well and knocked the ball around, but we just fell asleep in the second half,” he added. “Tonight will help us moving forward when we play in a tough conference that could see some tough nights against good teams.”
Lumberton took an early lead in the 14th minute when junior Alexis Lopez beat senior goalkeeper Ian Williams on a roller to the back corner of the net.
Answering for the Raiders was senior forward Luke Williams just 47 seconds later. On a counter attack from midfield, senior Alex Medina threaded a pass through traffic to Williams down the right side of the 18-yard box.
Williams, who led the Raiders with 12 goals last year, took a touch and laced a shot from 15 yards to the far post to knot the game.
“Alex is always looking for me, and I just made my run and he found me,” Williams explained. “It was a great pass and I was able to finish for the goal.”
Richmond had a couple of other scoring chances in the first half, including a free kick by Williams that sailed over the bar. Senior Justin McDougald sent a shot wide left in the 35th minute, and junior Jeremiah McLean went wide after connecting off a corner kick.
Senior midfielder Alex Medina (6) was credited with an assist in Tuesday’s loss. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
The Pirates broke the game open in the first seven minutes of the second half, netting two goals. Junior Jair Santos and senior Julian McGarahan scored in the 45th and 48th minutes, respectively.
Trailing 3-1, Medina gave the Raiders two chances on a free kick near the 50th minute, sending the initial shot on frame before missing wide on the rebound.
Fellow senior Pedro Molina missed a shot to the left a few minutes later, and Richmond’s final big scoring chance was a Medina one-hopper to the keeper in the 53rd minute.
Lumberton’s final goal came in the 67th minute, a redirect by senior Ashton Sumpter following a corner kick from the left side.
“We need to learn to communicate with each other, which is something we didn’t do tonight,” Cody Eason, a senior midfielder, explained. “When Lumberton played the ball in, we couldn’t clear it out, so we have to work on doing that better.
“I think we will continue to bond as a team,” he added. “As seniors, we need to enforce the things we didn’t do well in practice.”
Still early in the season, Larsen said Tuesday’s match also gave him a chance to further evaluate the lineup and make necessary adjustments.
“We have a good starting 11, 12 or 13 players who I can move around,” Larsen noted. “Luke and Alex picked up where they left off and made some good connecting passes. The guys who played last year also picked up and played well.
“It’s a learning curve right now, especially as we get back in the swing of things,” he continued. “Our back line played pretty well for being a whole new group except for one guy.”
The Raiders (0-1) will play another non-conference match on the road at Pine Forest High School on Wednesday. Varsity, in search of its first win, will get underway at 7 p.m.
“We’ll have a quick turnaround and play at Pine Forest and hopefully we can pick up a win,” Larsen closed.
JV Raiders take down Pirates in opener
The Richmond junior varsity soccer team earned a season-opening win on Tuesday against Lumberton. The JV Raiders won by a score of 4-2.
Sophomore James Eason scored three goals in the win, while fellow sophomore Samuel Hawks was credited with a tally when Lumberton scored on an own-goal.
Both of the JV Pirates’ goals came on penalty kicks by Jan Carlos Martinez. Richmond goalkeeper Edwin Estrada made a stop on a third PK attempt by Martinez.
Coach Bennie Howard and the JV Raiders (1-0) will also play at Pine Forest on Wednesday, starting at 5 p.m.
