FAYETTEVILLE — For the second time in five matches, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ soccer team played double overtime Wednesday.
On the road at Jack Britt High School, the Raiders held an early lead that couldn’t be maintained.
Tied at one goal going into the two mandatory 10-minute overtime periods, the Raiders came up short 3-1 in the Mid-South Conference contest.
A scoreless first half was broken in the 52nd minute when senior Memphis Jacobs netted a penalty kick goal. Prior to slotting the shot into the net, he was tripped up on a foul inside the 18-yard box.
Head coach Chris Larsen said the Raiders held the 1-0 lead “for about 10 minutes” before the Buccaneers knotted the score.
Both teams played the first overtime period without finding the back of the net. Jack Britt scored the eventual game-winning goal with about four minutes remaining in the second overtime period.
To try and tie it back up, Larsen “shifted some guys around” and put another forward up top. With one less player on the defensive line, the Buccaneers managed to score an insurance goal.
“That was on me,” Larsen said of the third goal. “When you’re down and trying to score that late in the game, you want to put some extra bodies forward. But we conceded that second goal and I take that blame.
“The biggest takeaway tonight was that we showed up and played a lot better,” he added. “We were a more cohesive unit. Yeah, it sucks to lose, but sometimes you have to take the moral victory of playing 95 minutes of really good soccer.”
Larsen shared that with the regular season winding down, he hopes the Raiders “play every game like we played tonight.”
The Raiders (6-10-2, 2-4-1 MSC) travel to Hoke County High School (11-4-3, 5-2 MSC) Monday for another conference match. That game will start at 7 p.m.
JV Raiders win on road
The Richmond junior varsity boys’ soccer team defeated Jack Britt 1-0 Wednesday.
Freshman Alan Santiago scored a second-half goal for the match’s only tally. Sophomore goalkeeper Jake Gardner played the entire match in net for the shutout.
The JV Raiders (10-6-1, 4-2-1 MSC) also play at Hoke County Monday. Kickoff is at 5 p.m.
