ROCKINGHAM — Opening the 2025 season at home Thursday, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ soccer team showed flashes of success, according to head coach Chris Larsen.
Although those bright spots helped Richmond find the back of the net, the Raiders weren’t able to get into the win column.
Hosting Forest Hills High School for a non-conference meeting, Richmond fell 3-1.
The Yellow Jackets scored two goals early in the match before the Raiders cut their deficit to one goal at halftime. Forest Hills added an insurance goal late despite Richmond playing up a man the final 20 minutes due to a player disqualification.
“We played a reasonable first half, but Forest Hills was fortunate to get a PK goal and score off a turnover in the back early on,” Larsen said. “We didn’t do the things we needed to do to be successful consistently enough tonight.
“Some of us are still learning, growing or doing too much with the ball,” he continued. “At times we look good moving the ball around and settling it and trapping it. We created some chances, but we didn’t follow our game plan.”
Taking advantage of a foul in the box early, Forest Hills scored on a penalty kick in the ninth minute. Just over two minutes later, the Yellow Jackets made it 2-0 on a shot inside the near post.
Richmond found its footing during the final 20 minutes of the first half and started maintaining possession in its attacking third.
Senior Memphis Jacobs had the Raiders’ first good look on goal with a shot from close range along the left side of the box on a pass from senior Phoenix Jacobs.
Sophomore Bryan Mendez-Mendoza cut Richmond’s deficit in half in the 29th minute.
Phoenix Jacobs threaded another pass into the box, this time to sophomore Allen Franco, who played it to Mendez-Mendoza. Taking a touch, Mendez-Mendoza finished the run inside the left post to make it 2-1.
Keeping the ball in their attacking third for the majority of the final 10 minutes of the half, the Raiders had quality chances from sophomore Cole Lambeth and Memphis Jacobs.
Lambeth’s shot from 15 yards was just right of the goal and Memphis Jacobs blasted the ball over the bar in a 1v1 situation.
The second half started with a trio of opportunities for the Raiders on corner kicks. The first was a near miss by senior Elen Fonseca Garcia, who tried to get the ball to the head of junior Brian Griffith.
Within a 30-second span in the 48th minute, Richmond had two more quality looks on set pieces. Junior Patrick Smith had his shot stopped in the keeper’s box on a corner and Lambeth fired a rocket just wide on the ensuing corner kick.
Near the midway point of the second half, a red card disqualified a Forest Hills player. With the advantage, Fonseca Garcia just missed a free kick from 20 yards and had another shot on net in the 67th minute.
After the Yellow Jackets made it 3-1 in the 63rd minute, senior DJ Gainey had Richmond’s final two chances to score. Making a pair of runs down the left side and beating the defender both times, Gainey’s first shot was stopped from close range and the second sailed right of the mark.
Junior goalkeeper Eric Legrand played the first half in net for Richmond and senior Camden Williams was between the posts for the final 40 minutes.
“We shifted formations once we were down two goals and that created more chances,” Larsen shared. “We still tried shooting from tight angles instead of sliding the ball to the middle. We just couldn’t capitalize despite getting a lot of good looks playing up a man.
“I’m pleased with the effort,” he closed. “It’s going to take us a game or two to get our feet under us to get up to the level of play where we want to be. We’re a young squad, but when we figure it out, we’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”
The Raiders (0-1) will play on the road for the first time early next week. Richmond will travel to non-conference Porter Ridge High School and begin play at 7 p.m.
Click here to read about the junior varsity boys’ soccer team’s win Thursday.
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Tuesday’s season opener soon.
