SANFORD — The Richmond Senior High School girls’ soccer team wasn’t able to keep its winning streak alive Friday.
Closing out the first round of regular-season Sandhills Athletic Conference play on the road at Southern Lee High School, the Lady Raiders suffered a 5-1 loss.
Richmond trailed 2-1 at halftime before the Lady Cavaliers (10-2, 4-2 SAC) netted three unanswered goals in the second half.
Netting her team-leading fifth goal of the season was sophomore Colbie Covington. Scoring in the first half to make it a 2-1 deficit, Covington’s goal was assisted by freshman Erin Drumwright.
On the kickoff following Southern Lee’s second goal, Richmond played a long ball to Drumwright, who slid the ball to the left side of the field to Covington.
Going 1v1 with the keeper, Covington finessed her shot into the net to cut the lead in half. Head coach Chris Larsen said the goal “provided a little bit of a spark” that carried the team the rest of the first half.
Unfortunately, the Lady Raiders weren’t able to stop a strong Southern Lee scoring attack in the final 40 minutes.
“It was a tough night for us and it was a pretty physical game,” Larsen said. “We didn’t do a good job of connecting passes and played a lot more defense than what we can withstand.
“I told the girls that in order to be competitive, we have to control the ball and not live off the counterattack. Southern Lee controlled the pace of the game and that’s how they were able to find success.
“I think the girls learned from tonight and hopefully it lit a little bit of a fire to start the second round of conference play,” Larsen closed. “We’ll put in a good practice Monday and see how we respond at Pinecrest. We played them well the first time and we’ll have all of our pieces back together.”
The Lady Raiders (5-7-1, 2-4 SAC) play at Pinecrest High School (10-3, 5-1 SAC) Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: Statistics and game information provided by head coach Chris Larsen and Brad Denson. The Richmond junior varsity girls’ soccer team didn’t play Friday.
