ROCKINGHAM — Hoping to stay in the mix of the Sandhills Athletic Conference standings, the Richmond Raider soccer team added a win to its record on Monday.
Closing out its two-game regular-season series against Union Pines High School, the Raiders tallied a 3-0 shutout win.
Since conference realignment began during the 2021-22 school year, the two wins against the Vikings this fall made it the first sweep for Richmond.
An aggressive attack, coupled with strong play in the back, balanced the Raiders’ efforts.
Three different goal scorers found the back of the net, while junior goalkeeper Adrian Padron (69 minutes) and senior netminder Edwin Estrada (11 minutes) combined for the clean sheet.
Setting the tempo early, junior striker Noah Gil found the goal in the third minute. Sending a grounder low to the back post, Gil scored his third goal of the year and what proved to be the game-winning score.
Richmond remained in the attacking third for a majority of the half, outshooting the Vikings 14-3. Freshman midfielder Daniel Gomez led the way with three.
Senior forward James Eason, who had two shots, nearly scored in the 35th minute. Fellow senior Jesus Castro dished a pass backward off his heel and Eason sent a shot into the side netting.
Not to be denied, Eason made it 2-0 in the 37th minute. Sending a low line drive from 30 yards, Eason’s strike beat diving goalkeeper Kael John to the right corner.
The score was Eason’s team-leading ninth goal of the campaign.
Richmond took the two-goal advantage into halftime and added its final goal of the game less than two minutes into the second half.
Senior Vernan McDonald started a run down the left sideline and slid an assist to fellow senior Samuel Hawks.
The ball passed through the six-yard box where Hawks one-timed his shot along the back post up and over John for his fifth goal this season.
Head coach Chris Larsen used the remainder of the game to sub players and work on a variation of lineups.
The fifth-place Raiders (8-7-1, 4-4-1 SAC) are scheduled to play at first-place Lee County High School (13-4, 8-1 SAC) on Wednesday, beginning at 7 p.m.
JV Raiders also win
Netting a pair of goals in each half, the Richmond junior varsity soccer team defeated Union Pines 4-0 on Monday.
Scoring in the first half were sophomore Dougie Dickinson and freshman Patrick Smith.
Adding scores in the final 35 minutes we’re sophomores Jose Garcia and DJ Gainey. Registering assists were Garcia and freshman Gio Chevez.
“We played very well tonight, it was one of our better games this season,” head coach Bennie Howard said. “The guys showed a lot of what we’ve practiced and worked on in the game.
“And everyone got to play tonight, which is always a good thing.”
The JV team (7-3-4, 4-2-2 SAC) will also play at Lee County on Wednesday. Play will start at 5 p.m.
