ROCKINGHAM — On the road Wednesday to open its 2026 campaign, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ soccer team was held scoreless.
Playing at non-conference Porter Ridge High School, the Lady Raiders lost 4-0. Richmond allowed two goals in each half.
Even though the team wasn’t able to score or pick up a win in its first match, head coach Chris Larsen was encouraged by some of what the younger Lady Raider squad was able to achieve against a quality opponent.
He did add that the Lady Raiders experienced some “growing pains,” which is what he also expected.
“We played a good first 20-25 minutes of the first half,” Larsen said. “We’re still figuring some stuff out by moving girls around and finding the best lineup. Even after (Porter Ridge) scored, we held them tight, but we just couldn’t keep them out of the back of the net.
Making her first career start as goalkeeper was junior Kenley Smith, who Larsen praised for her efforts. He added that “there were a couple goals that Kenley couldn’t do anything about.”
Richmond’s best scoring chance of the match came in the first half when junior Colbie Covington took a free kick along the left side after being fouled.
Covington sent the kick in from 25 yards and freshman Kaylea Peele got a foot on the batted ball, but it sailed just high of the net. Larsen explained that would have put Richmond up a goal and could have changed the momentum.
“The second half was pretty much the same,” Larsen said. “There were times we played well but we struggled on connecting passes in the middle. That limited our chances to find our wings and get the ball to our forward.
“Tonight kind of went as I expected, especially with such a young team. We’ll have some growing pains, but we’ll need to be quick learners so we can be competitive moving forward.”
The Lady Raiders (0-1) will play their home opener Friday against non-conference Terry Sanford High School.
The varsity team will begin at 7 p.m. and be preceded by the junior varsity team’s season opener at 5:15 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: Game information and statistics provided by head coach Chris Larsen.
