SPRING LAKE — Tuesday’s conference contest ended in a close loss for the Richmond Senior High School girls’ soccer team.
On the road at Overhills High School, the Lady Raiders suffered a 2-1 defeat in the Mid-South Conference match.
Always in contention this season, especially against MSC teams, Richmond tied the match late in the second half before conceding the game-winning goal in the final minute.
A scoreless first half saw the Lady Jaguars take a 1-0 lead midway through the second half on a shot from distance.
Richmond netted its goal with four minutes left in regulation to tie the score 1-1. Freshman Alley Crouch, who played forward during the final part of the game, played a role in making it happen.
Creating space around a defender, Crouch took a shot that hit the crossbar. Jutting straight down, the ball was headed into the net by junior Colbie Covington.
The Lady Jags took what head coach Chris Larsen called a “bloop shot” and found a way into the goal with 45 seconds left in the match.
Richmond made a run down the field and earned a corner kick with 10 seconds to play. Covington sent the ball into the box and Richmond got a piece of it, but wasn’t able to score.
“We played a pretty good first half and we ran two designated forwards up top tonight,” Larsen explained. “I thought that would be a good matchup for us against (Overhills). It was the first time this season we’ve done that for an entire game and I thought the girls adapted well.
“Alley played up top for the last 15 minutes or so and she gave us a little bit of a spark,” he added. “We had a couple of chances and then Alley hit the bar and Colbie was able to even it up. It’s always hard to lose a game so late, but I’m proud of how the girls played.”
The Lady Raiders (5-11-2, 1-7-1 MSC) have one more match this week. They’ll host current conference leader Pinecrest High School (14-03, 8-0 MSC) Friday at 7 p.m.
JV girls’ soccer draws even
Also playing at Overhills Tuesday, the Richmond junior varsity girls’ soccer team ended in a 1-1 draw.
Freshman Molly Covington scored the goal for the JV Lady Raiders on a penalty kick to the lower left corner.
That made it 1-0 Richmond with about 15 minutes to go in the second half. Overhills tied the game with six minutes left on the clock.
The JV Lady Raiders (7-5-1, 4-4-1 MSC) will also host Pinecrest Friday and start at 5:15 p.m.
