ROCKINGHAM — A burst of momentum from the right foot of senior Drew Davis gave the Raider soccer team some late life during Wednesday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference match at home against Lumberton High School.
Davis’ goal in the 58th minute, his first of the season, tied the match at 1-1, which ultimately forced double overtime against the Pirates. Unfortunately, a costly mistake with just 2:07 left in the second OT period led to a 2-1 victory for the visiting team.
The two teams played a scoreless first half of soccer in the first of their two regular season meetings. Lumberton would use a foul inside the box by Richmond to score on a penalty kick in the 51st minute. Senior Kameron Chavis took the free shot for the Pirates and beat junior goalkeeper Jay Ammons just inside the left post.
Just seven minutes later, Davis would knot the game at a goal apiece. Usually head coach Chris Larsen’s starting center back and staple on the defensive line, Davis was pushed up as a part of Larsen’s plan to shake things around. Moving Davis to front paid off, as he got a little help from junior teammate Hector Castro.
With 22 minutes left in regulation, Castro led Davis with a throw in to the near corner. Davis deked his way around a defender before cutting toward the net at a tight angle. Charging into the box, Davis made a move that caused sophomore keeper Jackson Davis to hit the turf, leaving the net wide open, which saw Drew Davis blast a shot into the twine for the equalizer.
Richmond would have three other close scoring opportunities in the closing minutes that just missed the frame. Following a yellow card by Nate Cribb with five minutes left, senior Joey Nicholson saw a direct kick from just outside the box find the head of senior teammate Lee Hayden, but the ball was scooped up by Jackson Davis.
On a rush with a minute left, senior Luke Hawks ripped a shot that sailed just right of the goal. Hayden recorded another header attempt off a deflection with just 15 seconds on the clock, but Lumberton’s keeper made a timely save.
At the end of regulation, per North Carolina High School Athletic Association rules, the Raiders and Pirates (5-4, 2-2 SAC) played two five-minute, non-sudden death overtime periods. Richmond continued the up-beat tempo and controlled possession for most of the first period. Nicholson took a shot as time expired from the far side of the field that just trickled wide of the goal mouth.
Senior Kevyn Leviner nearly won it for Richmond in the opening part of the second period when he collected a bouncing ball from 30 yards out and put a shot on frame, but Jackson Davis moved into position in time to stop it.
On the ensuing possession by the Pirates, Riley Clewis would take the ball into Richmond’s end and maneuver around a charging Ammons, tapping the ball into the open net with 2:07 remaining for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
“It’s become a common trend this season to go down a goal,” Larsen said after the game. “So the guys have been in that situation before, and they know they have to keep playing. We moved the ball pretty well and Hector and Drew made a nice run to get us on the board.
“There were a lot of opportunities for us to score tonight,” he added. “But as with all the games before tonight, we just struggled to get the ball in the net. I’m hoping each night that we’ll have that breakthrough game where we score a bunch of goals and see that trickle down into the rest of the season.”
The loss moved Richmond’s overall record to 1-6-1 and 3-1 against SAC opponents. It’s the slowest start to the season since 2013, which saw the Raiders begin 1-5-1 under former coach Bennie Howard.
Richmond currently sits tied with Scotland High School for fourth place in the conference standings, and has tallied just seven goals, an SAC low, in eight games.
“We were close, but that’s just the way it goes some nights,” Larsen said. “Toward the end of the game we were really taking it to them, and it’s unfortunate we didn’t have another 15 minutes to play.
“Things are getting better game by game, but it comes down to scoring,” he closed. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been in this situation and I know it’s tough for the guys. But we just need to keep trying and use our best effort in every game to try and right the ship.”
Richmond will travel to Tokay Park in Fayetteville and face non-conference Terry Sanford High School (5-3-1) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
JV Raiders score four unanswered goals in win over Lumberton
In junior varsity action, the Raiders would overcome an early two-goal deficit to defeat the Pirates 4-2. Sophomore Keaton Sweatt scored a team-high two goals, making it three scores in the last two games for him.
Tied 2-2 at halftime, Richmond would add two more goals in the second half to earn the win. Other goal scorers for Richmond were sophomores Cody Eason and Luke Williams. The JV Raiders (4-1-2) will start play against Terry Sanford at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday.
