FAYETTEVILLE — The Richmond Senior High School girls’ soccer team closed its first week of the season with a loss Friday.
Traveling to non-conference Pine Forest High School, the Lady Raiders were shut out 5-0.
The Lady Trojans scored two goals in the first half before adding a trio of goals in the closing 40 minutes.
Head coach Chris Larsen called Pine Forest the “toughest competition” Richmond has faced so far this season.
“They were more physical than we were, which caught our girls off guard and took some getting used to,” Larsen said. “Our touches weren’t as clean as they were Wednesday and we weren’t able to connect as many passes.
“The girls had the concepts down and they would make the right decisions, but our first touches didn’t set us up to get the ball off our foot before Pine Forest would get pressure on us. We played tough and hung in there until the third goal.
“We had a couple of scoring chances on some corner kicks and other runs on goal, but we didn’t test their goalie too much,” Larsen closed. “It was a tough battle, but this was a good reality check for the level of play that we’ll see in conference, which starts next week.”
The Lady Raiders (1-2) begin a three-match homestand Tuesday in their Sandhills Athletic Conference opener against Southern Lee High School (1-0). The start time is 6 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: Stats and game information provided by head coach Chris Larsen. The junior varsity soccer team didn’t play Friday.
