ROCKINGHAM – For the first time in at least the last eight seasons, the Richmond Senior High School varsity soccer team is 3-0 to start the season. And the Lady Raiders are riding a hot streak right into one of their most important games of the season.
Tying their season-high for goals in a game, the Lady Raiders overcame a “slow start” to defeat a scrappy Purnell Swett High School team 4-1 in a battle of unbeatens in their Sandhills Athletic Conference opener Monday night.
One of head coach Bennie Howard’s preseason goals was to spread the wealth of scoring amongst his players. And through the team’s first three games, Richmond has outscored its opponents 10-2, with three players scoring two goals.
And one of those players is sophomore midfielder Valery Standridge, who led the offensive charge for the Lady Raiders (3-0, 1-0) Monday, scoring her first two goals of the season, both of which came in an explosive second half.
“We started off slow, we got into a little bit of a panic mode,” Howard explained following the game. “The girls started playing long ball, and they were knocking it too long right into the keeper’s hands.”
The Lady Rams’ goalkeeper did have her hands full for a majority of the night, however, as junior Monica Lowry faced 16 Lady Raiders shots on goal. Howard noted that once his team “settled down” and started “knocking the ball around” with better movement and passing, his team fell into a rhythm that Purnell Swett couldn’t stop.
But it was the visiting team that got on the scoreboard first, when sophomore forward Abigail Lowry worked the left side of the box following an outlet pass from teammate Layla Locklear. With the Richmond defense split, Lowry beat a charging Allexis Swiney, who left the goal to try and contest Lowry’s shot. The ball skittered into the net giving Richmond only its second deficit of the season, as they trailed 1-0 at the 16:38 mark in the first half.
“She (Lowry) is a very good player, hats off to her,” Howard said of the Lady Rams’ only goal scorer. “As I told the team, that’s their go-to person. They’re going to go to her 80 percent of the time, and they do because she can finish and she has speed.”
But the 1-0 lead wouldn’t hold for long, as the Lady Raiders mounted their second 4-0 scoring run of the young season. Purnell Swett (2-1, 0-1 SAC) saw its lead stand for just 9:57 until junior midfielder Chloe Wiggins pushed ahead on a Richmond odd-man rush. Gliding into the 18-yard box, Wiggins went one-on-one with the keeper and sent a hard rolling shot to Lowry’s right to knot the game at one goal apiece with just 6:31 to play before the break.
Wiggins’ goal, which was her second on the season, proved to be the turning point, as much of the rest of the game was played in the offensive end for the Lady Raiders. And part of that was due to halftime adjustments made by Howard, which he said “made a difference,” as the score remained tied at the half.
“I made some adjustments with (Lowry), switching to the 4-1-4-1 (system),” Howard explained. “I man-marked her, and I won’t say we shut her down, but we didn’t allow her to have another shot on goal in the second half.”
Another message Howard had for his team during the intermission was to “knock the ball around” and “play some possession ball,” which he said allowed his team to score three more goals in the latter half.
Out of the break, Richmond continued to pressure the Lady Rams in their own zone, and it wasn’t long before Standridge got in on the scoring action. She ripped line drive shot from the top of the box that just sailed over the crossbar, but minutes later was able to connect on shot that took a “lucky” bounce between the hands of Lowry. Up 2-1 with 21:43 to go in the game, Standridge’s first goal of the night would prove to be the game winner.
Exactly 10 minutes later, senior striker Hanna Millen notched her first goal of the season when she sent a rolling ball to the opposite side of the net from where Lowry was positioned. What started out as a rush from the Lady Raiders’ own zone, Millen finessed her way around a plethora of Purnell Swett midfielders and raced into the box with just one defender in her way. Millen deked around the lone defender to score with 11:43 remaining.
The final goal of the night, Standridge’s second, came just over four minutes later with 7:31 to go in regulation. An outside shot found its way to Standridge and she took a shot that bounced off Lowry’s hands. A heads-up play by Standridge, she corralled her own rebound and chipped in to end the night’s scoring.
“As I said before in the beginning, instead of having one person score all the goals, if we can have six or seven score eight or 10 goals, we’ll be fine,” Howard said.
Currently, Standridge, Wiggins and junior Jessi Graham all have two goals on the year. Four other Lady Raiders each have one goal (Emily Buie, Avy Lucero, Millen and Jayana Nicholson).
Howard and company will look to ride their wave of scoring and undefeated play as they’ll host reigning conference champion Pinecrest High School Wednesday night. The Lady Patriots (1-0-2) defeated the Lady Raiders 3-2 in double overtime in last year’s conference tournament finale, a loss Richmond would like to avenge on its home field en route to a hopeful conference title this year.
“Pinecrest is a biggie,” Howard noted. “They’re the elite team to beat every year. Hopefully we can play a little bit better than we did tonight, and hopefully get a win Wednesday.”
In junior varsity action, head coach Chris Larsen’s squad also improved to 3-0 on the year. The Lady Raiders never really made the game close, as they scored their most goals in a single contest this year, defeating the Lady Rams 7-1.
Leading the way was freshman midfielder Katelyn Millen, who led all scorers with two goals. Five other Lady Raiders netted goals, including: Jakerra Covington, Abigail Hudson, Jayla McDougald, Azpen Murray and Kelsey Sheffield.
“It was great to see so many players get goals tonight,” Larsen said. “And I’m especially glad to get everyone some playing time tonight to try and save some legs for two tough matchups later on this week (Pinecrest and Pine Forest).”
The junior varsity team will get things going against Pinecrest Wednesday at 5:15 p.m., followed by varsity action at 7 p.m. Both coaches are hoping for a big turnout by fans to support the Lady Raiders teams.
