FAYETTEVILLE — Head coach Chris Larsen said the Richmond Raider soccer team played a quality match on Wednesday, its first contest in a week, but the team couldn’t connect some of the dots to earn a win.
On the road to complete the regular-season series with Jack Britt High School, the Raiders nearly overcame a late deficit. But the Buccaneers would hold on for a 2-1 victory in the Sandhills Athletic Conference match.
“I couldn't ask them to play a better game and I don’t think we were outmatched at all,” Larsen said. “It was a good 80-minute game. It’s unfortunate we didn’t come out with a win, but I’m not disappointed with the way the guys played.”
Jack Britt (6-2) would use two goals from Luca Duarte, one in each half, to edge Richmond. For the Raiders, junior Alex Medina netted his fourth goal of the season in the second half to keep Richmond in the mix.
“Jack Britt got a little lucky on a deflection on their first goal, and the same with the second one,” Larsen explained. “We cleared it out, but just not far enough, and Jay (Ammons) made a good save attempt but it just went under him.”
The Raiders played an intense opening half but weren’t able to find the back of the net. Medina, who finished with three of Richmond’s nine shots on frame, sent a shot just over the crossbar in the sixth minute and senior River Meacham had a touch inside the box in the ninth minute that didn’t connect.
In the 21st minute, junior Pedro Molina played a ball down the line to Meacham, who crossed it to junior Luke Williams. Making an athletic play over a defender, Williams headed the ball toward the net but it sailed wide.
Duarte scored the game’s first goal in the 27th minute on a tight shot from the right side of the box. It was deflected by a Richmond defender and angled in off the back post.
Ammons made a pair of saves on Duarte in the final five minutes of the half, and senior defender Cale Luckey used his body to block consecutive shots inside 10 yards to keep the Raiders down by just one goal at the break.
“When we played them the first time we were still trying to figure things out, and Jack Britt has a very senior-heavy roster,” Larsen said. “Our light switch flipped on when we played Hoke County and we have continued playing well since then. Tonight the guys played a much better game.”
Williams, who had two shots on frame, opened the second half with a near miss in space at the top of the box. On the next Jack Britt run down the field, Duarte collected a loose ball and scored on a second effort to put the Bucs up by two goals in the 49th minute.
Following that tally, the Raiders upped their intensity and had several quality looks in the second 40 minutes of play.
A foul in the box afforded Medina to take a penalty shot in the 62nd minute. He squared up junior goalkeeper Tucker Shank and laced a bullet to the upper left 90 and watched his shot rattle into the back of the net.
“I let the guys step up to take penalty kicks, and all the guys agreed tonight that Alex was the right guy to take the shot,” Larsen said. “He stepped up with confidence and that’s 95 percent of taking a PK.
“Alex knew what he was going to do with it and he’s consistent when it comes to that,” he added. “I’m glad he scored and that gave us a fighting chance and really lifted us the last 20 minutes.”
In the closing parts of the game, Williams, Meacham and Molina all had looks around the net. Senior Noah Aiken finished the game with three shots on net.
With 10 minutes to play, Medina just missed going under the crossbar on a direct kick from 25 yards out.
The Raiders (4-3-1) will return to play on Saturday when they host Purnell Swett High School (1-6) in a makeup game from last week.
Second-half surge helps JV Raiders to victory
After playing a scoreless first half against Jack Britt on Wednesday, the Richmond junior varsity soccer team made adjustments at halftime to earn a 3-0 win.
Sophomore Gerardo Aguirre would score his first two goals of the season in a two-minute span to ice the win, adding on to a goal from freshman James Eason, which was scored earlier in the second half.
“In the first half we were rusty and played sloppy,” head coach Tad Hamilton said. “At halftime, I said in order to score we needed to play simple. We needed to make clean passes, play to our feet and try to hit each other. And the guys fortunately did that.”
Eason scored his team-leading sixth goal of the year on an assist from Mason Iacovone in the 57th minute. On a give-and-go, Iacovone found Eason past a defender, and he drilled a shot from 15 yards out to the upper left corner.
Augirre’s first goal came in the 61st minute when sophomore Ayden Mabe crossed a pass into the box, allowing Aguirre to settle it and beat the keeper.
Less than two minutes later, Augirre corralled a loose ball and made a spin move in the box to flip the shot into the net for a late insurance goal.
“On the first goal, James and Mason played a one-two down the middle of the field and that led to a breakaway,” Hamilton said. “Gerardo’s goals were more technical and he did a great job finishing them.”
The JV Raiders improved to 4-2 on the season and will play Hoke County High School on Monday.
