FAYETTEVILLE – A night after commenting that his team was missing key opportunities and “having a hard time scoring,” Richmond Senior High School head soccer coach Bennie Howard’s team blasted eight goals in Thursday’s regular season finale on the road at Seventy-First High School.
In the 8-2 victory over the winless Lady Falcons, it was Richmond junior midfielder Chloe Wiggins who dazzled on the pitch, netting a season-high four goals and adding one assist.
Three other Lady Raiders found the back of the net in the win, making it the second time this season Richmond (16-4, 12-4 SAC) has scored eight or more goals in a game (scored a season-high 10 goals against Seventy-First on March 22).
With the road win, the Lady Raiders not only won their fifth game in a row, but also finished the regular season tied for second place with Jack Britt High School. After splitting the season series one game apiece with the Lady Buccaneers, Richmond needed some help from Sandhills Athletic Conference leader Pinecrest High School.
And they got it Thursday as the Lady Patriots crushed Jack Britt 9-1 to finish the season a perfect 14-0 in SAC play, and leaving Richmond and Jack Britt tied for second.
“We set out on a mission the last five or six games of the season,” Howard said following his final regular season game after 30 years at the helm of the program. “The girls knew they had to keep the pressure on (Jack Britt) and win out. We did that and I’m happy for opportunity to be involved in a coin flip.
“We handled our business over these last couple of weeks, and hopefully it pays off in the conference tournament,” he added.
The coin flip Howard alluded to will be the deciding factor where the Lady Raiders will fall in the SAC tournament seedings because of the tie. According to Howard, the coin toss will take place on Friday, and depending on the final couple of SAC make-up games to be played, Richmond will “most likely” host either Hoke County or Scotland High School in the opening round early next week.
In Thursday’s action, Richmond made quick work in the opening 20 minutes. Junior Morgan Hooks, who has scored six goals in the last seven games, punched the first two goals of the night to give her team a 2-0 lead, with Wiggins’ assist coming on the first score. At the 19:45 mark in the first half, Wiggins tallied her first goal of the night, proving to be the eventual game-winner.
Before the half would end, Wiggins would net a hat trick with her second goal in the 36th minute, and her third just 43 seconds later to give Richmond a 5-0 lead heading into the locker room.
In the game’s final 25 minutes, Richmond would get goals from sophomore Emily Buie (65th minute), junior Julia Bornhorst (73rd minute) and Wiggins.
“The field was smaller (in size) tonight, and I told the girls that we couldn’t play ball wide,” Howard explained. “If we kicked it out too wide, it’d roll out of bounds. So, I moved my center midfielder up with my two forwards, and made a sort of triangle.
“We did a good job of playing a lot of good balls to the center of the field,” he continued. “Our speed up front with our forwards helped us score.”
Wiggins’ four goals, and Hooks’ two, each give them a share of the team lead with 11 goals at the end of the regular season.
The Lady Falcons (1-16, 0-14 SAC) managed to get two goals late. With Richmond’s backup goalkeeper Kelly Hoffman in net, Seventy-First got on the board with 7:13 left in regulation. In the game’s final moments, the Lady Falcons scored on a penalty kick when Hoffman punched the ball up into the net instead of over the crossbar.
All the same, Howard said it was a “learning experience” for his young keeper, and that he was “glad everyone got to play” and with a win he’s “happy.”
“The team has put together a five-game winning streak and hopefully we’ll keep the ball moving,” Howard concluded. “Sometimes you have to survive and move on. Our goal at beginning of the season was to win the conference tournament. And we have that opportunity, so we’ll take it one game at a time and see what happens.”
Richmond will play at home Monday against an opponent to be determined. The ROSports department will update this article when information is available.
