SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – In the four games it played prior to spring break, the Richmond Senior High School Lady Raiders soccer team racked up a four-game winning streak, outscoring its opponents 22-4, including shutouts against conference foes Lumberton and Scotland high schools.
But the Lady Raiders hit a speed bump Monday night, as they returned to action for the first time in 12 days, and fell to Sandhills Athletic Conference leader Pinecrest High School 9-0. It was the second time this season Richmond (9-3, 6-3 SAC) was mercy-ruled by the Lady Patriots (14-0-2, 9-0 SAC), which also happened on its home pitch on March 7.
The nine goals given up in the loss were three more than the Lady Raiders have given up in the seven combined games since being shut-out by Pinecrest a month ago (had only allowed six goals in that span).
“We made some mistakes tonight, and when you play quality teams, they capitalize on those mistakes,” head coach Bennie Howard said following his team’s second road loss of the season. “The three or four big mistakes we made tonight led to some easy goals for Pinecrest. They’re a good team, but we made them look better because of those mistakes.”
To open the game, Richmond appeared poised and ready to avenge the early-season loss, as its offense and defense maintained possession around midfield, and limited the Lady Patriots’ opportunities. But the momentum quickly changed when Pinecrest senior forward Molly Niewald scored two goals in a span of 2:04.
Niewald, who leads Pinecrest in goals this season, made two charges past Richmond’s defense to beat sophomore goalkeeper Allexis Swiney on one-on-one situations. Her first goal came in the ninth minute, and her second came in the 11th minute, both of which were well-placed grounders.
Over the next 12 minutes in the opening half, the Lady Patriots poured on the offense, taking advantage of the mistakes Howard alluded to. Senior Natalie Sabiston scored in the 16th minute on a close-range cross through the goalie box, while Niewald answered two minutes later with a breakaway laser that found the back of the net in the top right corner despite hitting Swiney’s hands. Niewald finished the night with a game-high three goals.
Lauren Landry joined in the scoring parade in the 23rd minute to push the lead to 5-0. The Lady Raiders defense would settle in and hold Pinecrest scoreless for the remaining 17 minutes of play and enter the break down by that score. In the earlier season loss to Pinecrest, Richmond had trailed just 3-0 at the break.
Howard used a platoon of goalkeepers on the night, giving Swiney a break by putting freshman backup Kelly Hoffman and third-string junior Abbey Coward in net to get some playing time. Swiney allowed seven goals on 19 shots faced, while Hoffman gave up the remaining two goals in the latter part of the game. Coward impressed by making several diving stops, collecting 10 saves and not allowing a goal.
“We played better in the second half, which may not be indicated by the score, but we did,” Howard noted. “I thought Abbey did a good job coming off the bench to play goalie. She doesn’t get a lot of playing time, but she stepped up to the plate tonight and did a great job.”
The Lady Patriots would tack on four more goals in the second half and end the game with 10:33 remaining on the clock. Junior Keeley Copper scored both of her goals in the opening five minutes of the second half, and Carley Modlin and Kate Casey would score in the 29th and 31st minutes, respectively, to push the game to the final score.
Despite the back-to-back nine-goal blowout losses to the Lady Patriots, Howard is shifting his team’s focus to Wednesday’s action against Jack Britt High School, which is currently in second place in the SAC.
“We’re going to regroup and hopefully have a good practice (Tuesday),” Howard commented. “We need to get ready for Jack Britt. If we can beat them, we’ll be tied for second (in the conference), which is what we’re shooting for.”
At the time of this publication, Richmond sits alone in third place in the SAC standings, and three games above fourth-place Lumberton. Last month, the Lady Raiders lost to Jack Britt on the road 1-0 in the final minutes. Only the varsity teams will play Wednesday, so the game is set for 6 p.m.
NOTE: In junior varsity action, the Lady Raiders fell to Pinecrest by a final score of 4-1. Scoring the lone goal for Richmond was sophomore striker Kelsey Sheffield. The JV Lady Raiders are 7-2 on the season, and 4-2 in SAC play.
