HOPE MILLS, N.C. – Saturday’s “Kicking for Cancer” soccer jamboree at South View High School raised money and awareness for cancer research. But it also raised Bennie Howard’s awareness of how talented his team is heading into the 2018 season.
And now he’s certain his players are ready to get their season started.
The Richmond Senior High School Lady Raiders soccer team participated in three 40-minute scrimmages Saturday, while finishing play with a half-scrimmage against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Scotland High School.
Richmond, which will begin regular season play on Wednesday, February 28, at Union Pines High School (Cameron, N.C.), went 2-0-2 in its final Saturday of preseason play. And Howard, who tends to always see the glass as half full win or lose, was pleased with his team’s efforts.
“We didn’t do too bad,” Howard said. “The girls played 140 minutes of really good soccer today in a five-hour span. I told them I knew I pushed them hard all week (during practice), but it paid off. The fields weren’t in the greatest condition either, so I told them that if they can make good touches and passes in those conditions, they can do it anywhere.”
In the first matchup against Terry Sanford High School (Fayetteville, N.C.), Richmond finished in a 0-0 draw. Last season, the Lady Bulldogs went 24-1-1, tallied a perfect 10-0 record to win the Cape Fear Valley Conference title, and made it to the final four in the 3A state championship playoffs.
As the clock wound down in the first scrimmage, Terry Sanford managed to rip a shot from the left side of the box at sophomore, and first-year varsity, goalkeeper Allexis Swiney. In the words of Howard, the “shot was going in” and would have likely ended the game as a win for the Lady Bulldogs, but Swiney made an impressive diving save just seconds before the official blew the whistle to end the game.
“We actually had the better opportunities to score, we just didn’t,” Howard noted. “That was a great start to a good day.
“And Allexis, with her athleticism and ups, used perfect form to punch (the shot) over the top of the net,” he continued. “She made a great save and did a really great job in all the games. She was challenged some, but made good decisions, and punted and distributed the ball well. I’m very pleased with (her efforts) in goal.”
The Lady Raiders picked up their first of two victories on the afternoon in their second scrimmage, this one a 2-0 victory against Overhills High School (Spring Lake, N.C.). Howard saw some good things from his players against an Overhills program that went 15-4 in 2017 and made the state playoffs as an eight seed.
Junior forward Jessi Graham notched both goals for the Lady Raiders, as she proved her ability to step up and fulfill Howard’s expectations of her to be a regular contributor. Junior midfielder Chloe Wiggins, who Howard also expects to reprise her role as a factor in helping move the ball down the field, assisted on both of Graham’s goals.
Following their shutout of Overhills, the Lady Raiders impressed again, this time in a 2-1 win against Gray’s Creek High School (Hope Mills, N.C.). Howard’s No. 1 priority heading into the season was to establish a handful of players as “go-to” goal scorers, and Saturday’s play against several “quality programs” was an indication that he’ll get just that.
Netting goals for Richmond against the Lady Bears were junior forward Julia Bornhorst and junior striker Morgan Hooks. In last season’s conference tournament, Hooks netted an overtime goal against a fiery Lumberton High School squad to send Richmond to the conference title game against Pinecrest High School.
The final scrimmage Saturday against Scotland, which Howard admitted he was reluctant to play because of possible injuries due to fatigue, was agreed to be cut in half to 20 minutes. But it gave him the opportunity to try some different things he may have otherwise not had the chance to test out. Neither team scored.
“Everybody got to play a lot (Saturday), but I mixed up the lineup against Scotland,” Howard explained. “Some girls played in different spots than normal, just to see how they’d do. I put Valery (Standridge) in goal, and she did a good job, but only because our backup goalie Abbey (Coward) suffered a foot injury.
Coward’s injury didn’t occur during the scrimmages, and with her potentially being sidelined for a couple of weeks, Howard is anticipating moving current junior varsity goalie Kelly Hoffman up to varsity to back Swiney.
Howard also kept a close eye on his defensive line, and expressed how well several players performed, as the team is transitioning with the absence of former all-conference center back Altman Griffin.
“All four of my defenders played nearly all 140 minutes today, with a few exceptions here and there,” Howard said. “I don’t sub out my defenders a lot, but they all did a good job platooning. Tatum Hubbard and Shelby Matheson played great at center back. Kathleen Pittman, Maddisyn Diggs, Kyra Wall and Kaiyah Sriratanakoul all contributed, too.”
With Union Pines looming just days ahead in the season opener, Howard is confident his team is ready to start the year in pursuit of an SAC title. But there are a couple of things he hopes to fine-tune before Wednesday’s season opener.
“We need to do a better job of marking up,” Howard explained. “And the girls can get better at using their bodies for shielding and getting their bodies in the right position to get their opponent to turn and spin off.
“And our fitness level isn’t where I want it to be,” he concluded. “We’ve only been practicing for eight days, so we’re going to do some more sprints and distance. I want to see our intensity pick up in practice.”
The Lady Raiders will make the trip to Cameron, N.C., to face the Lady Vikings. Chris Larsen and the junior varsity will get things started at 4:30 p.m., followed by varsity at 6:30 p.m.
