ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior High School boys’ soccer team didn’t get the outcome it wanted in Tuesday’s home opener.
Hosting Jack Britt High School in a Sandhills Athletic Conference match, the Raiders dropped a 6-0 decision. Head coach Chris Larsen said despite losing the match, there were some bright spots for Richmond.
“We played pretty good in the first half, and I thought the guys moved the ball around and held our shape pretty good,” Larsen said. “Even though the score wasn’t in our favor, we had a lot of chances and the guys corrected some mistakes from previous games.
“The biggest thing I was happy to see was Bradford (Pittman) finding his zone at center back,” he added. “He’s been moved here and there the last couple of years, but he’s helped us out tremendously in that position and he played all 80 minutes tonight.”
Richmond recorded a season-high 11 shots on frame, which Larsen said was a big improvement. Seniors Hector Castro and Cale Luckey, along with junior Alex Medina, all had two shots on net.
Seniors River Meacham and Bryan Stanback, juniors Pedro Molina and Justin McDougald and sophomore Ty Murray each finished with one shot on frame.
Jack Britt was led by three goals from senior Richard Billings, and Luca Duarte added two tallies. The Buccaneers’ sixth goal was credited to Amin Hasan.
At the official mask break halfway through the opening 40 minutes, both teams were scoreless. But the Buccaneers would score goals in the 26th and 38th minutes to take a 2-0 lead into the break.
Senior goalkeeper Jay Ammons made a diving save on a penalty kick in the first half, which Larsen credited with helping keep the Raiders in the mix.
Jack Britt (2-0, 2-0 SAC) opened the score up with goals in the 44th, 54th and 57th minutes. The Bucs tallied their final goal on a Billings shot in the 77th minute.
“We dropped our heads after we allowed the third goal and we just tried to survive,” Larsen said. “If you break the game into quarters, we lost the third one pretty badly.
“The guys know we have an uphill climb and that we have to right the ship,” he closed. “We have another tough game on Thursday with Hoke County. We have to hurry up and figure out how to put the ball in the back of the net.”
The Raiders (1-2, 1-2 SAC) will look to get back to the .500 mark when they host Hoke County High School (2-0-1, 2-0-1 SAC) on Thursday. Varsity is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
