CHAPEL HILL — A tough overall strength of schedule paid dividends for the Richmond Senior High School girls’ soccer team Friday.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association released its official playoff brackets around 2:30 p.m. and the Lady Raiders found their way into the postseason thanks in part to facing quality opponents.
Teetering on the edge of the playoff bubble, Richmond snuck in as the final seed in the 4A East. The No. 32 Lady Raiders will face No. 1 John T. Hoggard High School in the opening round Monday.
This season’s playoff berth marked the second straight season Richmond will get a chance to continue play. As a No. 31 seed in 2024, that berth snapped a three-year absence for the program and head coach Chris Larsen.
“Our ultimate goal every season is to play well enough to make the playoffs,” Larsen shared. “It’s great that we were able to do that again this year. We play in a tough conference and our non-conference matches were against quality teams, which is something I consider when making the schedule to try and get us to the postseason.
“I’m happy for the girls, especially our seniors who will get at least one more chance to play,” he continued. “As the No. 32 seed, we know the odds might be stacked against us a little bit. But that’s not going to take away from enjoying this opportunity and making a run at the top team in our bracket.”
Since the NCHSAA began using the current Ratings Percentage Index formula to determine playoff seedings, Larsen has become a bit of a savant when crunching the numbers to give Richmond a chance to make the playoffs.
Admitting there’s no exact science to the process, Larsen said the system is interpretable enough to allow him and the team to remain within striking distance of the postseason bracket because of the Lady Raiders’ strength of schedule.
Richmond (8-11-3) finished the regular season with 33rd-best RPI in the 4A East (0.51477). With help from the leapfrog rule, which goes away after this season, Richmond slid into the No. 32 seed.
Sanderson High School, which had the 27th-ranked RPI in the 4A East, didn’t make the playoffs because its CAP 6 Conference opponent Athens Drive High School (34th-ranked RPI) finished ahead of Sanderson in the CAP 6 regular season standings.
The No. 1 Lady Vikings, coached by Justin Schatz, enter the playoffs with a 19-1 overall record and a 4A leading 0.69038 RPI. Hoggard won the Mideastern Conference with a 13-1 record and has won nine straight matches entering the postseason.
Richmond earned a fifth-place finish in the Sandhills Athletic Conference with a 5-7 record. Hoggard’s only loss this season was to Ashley High School.
On the stat sheet, the Lady Raiders are averaging 1.90 goals per match this season compared to 1.41 goals against per match. Hoggard is netting 5.55 goals per match and has allowed just 13 total goals this season in 20 matches (0.65 goals against).
“This is all about the experience for us,” Larsen closed. “Our program is continuing to trend in the right direction and this is hopefully a memory for our girls that they’ll cherish.
“For our seniors, making the playoffs is a nice feather in their cap. And for the returning players next year, hopefully this is the expectation they continue to set for themselves. We’ll see what we can make happen Monday.”
Monday’s match between No. 32 Richmond and No. 1 Hoggard is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. in Wilmington.
