ROCKINGHAM — Helping steady the team all season and return to the playoffs for the first time in five seasons, a member of the Richmond Senior High School boys’ soccer team has been selected as the Official Richmond County Male Student-Athlete of the Week.
In this edition of The Richmond Observer’s weekly feature series, presented by Mabry’s Drug & Home Care, junior soccer player Eric Legrand is in the spotlight.
Starting the season as Richmond’s reserve goalkeeper, Legrand worked his way into the starting lineup and capped his season this week by being named the Mid-South Conference’s “Goalkeeper of the Year.”
Joining the varsity level this season for the first time, Legrand earned his first career recognition.
Athletic Profile: Eric Legrand
Year: Junior
Fall sport: Soccer
Position: Goalkeeper
Varsity experience: 1 Season
Other sports: Basketball
“CLASSROOM CREDITS” WITH ERIC LEGRAND
One of the top students in Richmond’s graduating class of 2027, Legrand is a true student of the classroom and of the game.
Ranked No. 9 in his graduating class, Legrand boasts a 4.44 weighted grade point average and is in the top 2% of his class. He made the A/B honor roll during the first nine-week period at Richmond.
Spending his morning classes at Richmond Community College as part of Richmond’s dual enrollment program, Legrand is taking a trio of courses this fall — English 111, Spanish 111 and Mathematics 171.
While on Richmond’s campus, Legrand is enrolled in Chemistry Honors and Construction Core Honors. He’s currently on pace to make the A/B honor roll again this nine weeks.
With soccer season now officially over, Legrand is warming up to begin his first season with the varsity boys’ basketball team.
“ACCOLADES” WITH ERIC LEGRAND
Released earlier this week, the All-Mid-South Conference boys’ soccer team featured four Raiders including Legrand. He was joined by senior teammates Elen Fonseca Garcia and Memphis Jacobs, as well as junior teammate Cole Lambeth.
Legrand, however, earned not only his first career postseason accolade, but was also named the MSC’s “Goalkeeper of the Year.” He was nominated by head coach Chris Larsen, and then voted on by the conference’s other coaches.
The release of the All-Conference team came on the heels of Richmond’s return to the state playoffs for the first time since 2020. The No. 20 Raiders punched their ticket and traveled to No. 13 Ballantyne Ridge earlier this month.
Suffering a nine-goal loss during the first meeting of the two teams in August, Richmond played a tighter contest and lost 2-0. During that match, Legrand faced 22 shots and had a .900 save percentage.
On the season, Legrand made appearances in all of Richmond’s 22 matches and logged 1,440 minutes in goal. He made 165 saves, averaging 7.5 saves per match, which ranked him second in the MSC.
Allowing 2.0 goals per match, Legrand had the fourth-lowest goals against average in the conference this season.
Legrand was credited with seven of Richmond’s eight victories and had one shutout win against Hoke County in a crucial regular-season match late in the season.
“RAPID RESPONSE” VIDEO WITH ERIC LEGRAND
The Richmond Observer will publish two more Official Richmond County Student-Athletes of the Week next week.
