ROCKINGHAM — A lead in the second half didn’t hold for the Richmond Senior High School girls’ soccer team Friday.
After eight non-conference matches to start the season, the Lady Raiders opened Mid-South Conference action at home against Pine Forest High School.
In a tightly-contested match, Richmond allowed two goals in a short span in the second half and lost 2-1.
Scoring her team-leading sixth goal of the season, freshman Kaylea Peele found the back of the net for the Lady Raiders in the second half.
“We had an unfortunate span of about three minutes in the second half,” head coach Chris Larsen commented. “The first goal was a good shot and we were just a little on our heels on the second one.
“I told the girls that the difference was (Pine Forest) raised their intensity and we didn’t,” he added. “Our girls should still be proud of the way they played because they played well.”
Larsen also told the team that the “best thing is we get to play them again, and now we know what it takes to beat them.”
A scoreless first half yielded a couple of scoring chances for Richmond. Near the midway point, a corner kick offered several rebound chances that the Lady Raiders just weren’t able to redirect into the net.
Freshman Nayeli Chavez followed that with a 1v1 chance in the six-yard box, but a physical save by the keeper kept the game scoreless.
Sophomore Erin Drumwright peppered the net on a shot from 10 yards in the 21st minute, but it found the keeper’s hands.
The Lady Raiders’ best chance to score in the opening 40 minutes came in the final 30 seconds. Junior Colbie Covington sent a well-placed shot to the upper right corner from 25 yards that was just swatted away.
On the ensuing corner kick, junior Mariana Gonzalez just missed her mark when her shot sailed over the crossbar.
Continuing that momentum to start the second half, Peele gave the Lady Raiders a 1-0 lead in the 45th minute.
That lead held until the 72nd minute when Pine Forest (5-2-1, 1-0 MSC) tied the match on a hooking corner kick.
Less than a minute later, the Lady Trojans scored again, which proved to be the game-winning tally.
With just under two minutes left in regulation, Pine Forest was issued a red card (double yellow) and Richmond had the advantage of playing up a player the remainder of the game.
Despite a couple of chances to clear it out of their defensive zone, the Lady Raiders couldn’t get enough forward momentum going to get a quality chance on frame.
Continuing conference action next week, the Lady Raiders (3-5-1, 0-1 MSC) will travel to Jack Britt High School (2-3, 0-1 MSC) Tuesday. The match will start at 7 p.m.
