LUMBERTON — The Richmond Senior High School girls’ soccer team extended its winning streak to three matches on Monday.
On the road for the first of two away matches this week, the Lady Raiders cruised past Lumberton High School 4-2.
Behind a two-goal effort from junior midfielder Ellie Buck, Richmond and head coach Chris Larsen used a pair of goals in each half to earn the win. Senior forward Jayla McDougald and sophomore midfielder Jennifer Gomez bookended the Lady Raiders’ scoring.
During their current winning streak, which features wins over Lumberton, Hoke County and Jack Britt, the Lady Raiders have outscored their opponents 9-4.
“We played a little sloppy in the first half and it took us a while to find our footing,” Larsen said. “But we were able to have a good talk at halftime and made the necessary adjustments. We struggled with the fundamentals in the first half.
“Even though we conceded two goals in the second half, overall the girls played much better in the final 40 minutes,” he added. “It was good to see players like Ellie and Jayla continue to contribute, and for Jennifer to get her first goal.”
The Lady Raiders didn’t waste any time getting on the board to start the game. Junior midfielder Kaitlyn Huff won possession of the ball around midfield and sent an outlet pass to McDougald down the left side into the 18-yard box.
McDougald weaved through traffic and sent a hard grounder past senior goalkeeper Diamond Harris to the back post to give Richmond a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute, her third goal of the spring.
Before the first half ended, McDougald would add an assist to her stat sheet by setting up Buck’s first goal.
“Jayla gave me a nice cross to the right side,” Buck, who tallied her first two goals of the season, said. “Coach Larsen and Coach (Bennie) Howard always tell me to get to the right corner when there’s open space. I did that and just had a nice shot to go to the back post for a goal.
“It’s a nice streak we’re on right now and the biggest thing is it’s helping build the whole team’s confidence going into the middle part of the season,” she added. “There are still some things we can improve on, but Coach Larsen does a great job helping us learn from those mistakes.”
Ellie Buck (22) scored two goals in Richmond’s win over Lumberton on Monday.
The Lady Raiders took a 2-0 lead into the intermission, and both teams would trade possessions for much of the second half until Buck scored her second goal of the game.
Taking a corner kick from the right side, Buck laced a shot into the keeper’s box, which deflected off a Lumberton defender and into the net. The Lady Raiders held a 3-0 lead in the 65th minute.
Two of the next three goals were scored by the Lady Pirates (1-4), starting with Jennifer Alegria tapping a shot past senior goalkeeper Kelly Hoffman in the 68th minute. Teammate Mia Brayboy would score in the 78th minute on a one-on-one against Hoffman in the box.
In between those goals was Gomez’s tally, her first career varsity score. A bouncing ball in the box was collected by Gomez, who turned and shot it into the back of the net in the 72nd minute to ice the game.
“It feels great to get my first goal and I was just at the right place at the right time,” Gomez smiled. “I just wanted to redeem myself, and I was able to score because all the girls stepped up their game in the second half and played harder.”
With the win, the Lady Raiders (4-1) sit alone in second place in the Sandhills Athletic Conference standings and trail Pinecrest (5-0) by just one game.
“Once we got a lead, I started shifting girls around and tried to get everyone some playing experience,” Larsen said. “It may have cost us some mistakes, but we’ll learn from it and keep moving forward.
“I told the girls the winning streak is nice, but we can’t get complacent,” he closed. “We need to keep getting better and play the conference a second time. We’ve beat some teams that very easily the script could be flipped, so we have to focus in and finish out strong going into spring break.”
The Lady Raiders have a quick turnaround and return to the pitch Wednesday at Seventy-First High School (1-4) for a varsity-only contest set for 6 p.m.
Six JV Lady Raiders score in big win over Lumberton
Ahead of Monday’s varsity game, the junior varsity Lady Raiders notched their third win in a row with a 7-1 victory over Lumberton.
Scoring three goals in the first half, and four more for insurance in the final 35 minutes, freshman Allie Rodgers netted a game-high two goals. She now has a team-high seven goals in four matches this spring.
Fellow freshman Gabby Lutz kept her scoring foot hot, adding a tally in the win, her fifth goal in the last three games. Melissa Hernandez also scored once, bringing her season total to two.
Finding the back of the net for the first time were sophomores Ashlyn Bouldin and Andrea Ellerbe, along with freshman Alex Poplin. The JV Lady Raiders improved to 3-1 on the season with the victory.
