MONROE — All of the scoring in Wednesday’s soccer match took place in the span of 84 seconds.
Playing their final regular season game of the spring, the Lady Raiders drew even 1-1 on the road against Central Academy of Technology and Arts. The match was played at Walter Bickett Stadium.
Scoring for Richmond was sophomore Colbie Covington and Vahni Puri scored for the Lady Cougars, both tallied coming in the second half.
A slow first half by both teams resulted in a scoreless draw at halftime. Richmond was without three starting players, including two midfielders, which forced the lineup to shift around.
Head coach Chris Larsen said the acclimation of players in different positions took the team “some time to develop.”
Larsen added that “we are a much better team than they are, but we didn’t play the first half like it.” Richmond struggled to connect passes in the opening half, leading to only a couple scoring chances.
Senior goalkeeper Sa’Quanna Bostic made a sliding save on a close-range shot in the 17th minute, the first shot on goal for either team. The only other shot Bostic had to make an effort to stop was a 1v1 in the 37th minute, which she scooped off the ground.
Sophomore Mariana Gonzalez registered the first of Richmond’s two quality scoring chances in the first half when she one-hopped a shot from 30 yards in the 21st minute.
The other attempt on goal was a hard, low roller by senior Ashly Gonzalez in the closing 10 seconds of the half.
Using a pep talk from Larsen at halftime, the Lady Raiders upped their intensity to control the tempo for the majority of the second half. In the first two minutes, Covington put a shot on net after a run down the left side, a precursor to her later tally.
Shots by Ashly Gonzalez and senior Hanna Smith in the 54th and 55th minutes sailed just high and across the goal mouth, respectively. Defensively, senior center back Samantha Barnes chased down an opponent and blocked a shot attempt from close range.
Bostic made another aggressive sliding stop on a charge into the box, swiping possession from the offense.
Junior Jentry Denson took a free kick in the 65th minute that was just left of the near post. Richmond kept the ball in its attacking third for the next several minutes, which led to Covington’s goal.
Winning possession near midfield, Richmond’s offense switched the field and an outlet pass found Covington along the left edge. Taking a couple of touches, she used her speed and got around a defender. Covington blasted her goal from just inside the 18-yard box under the crossbar and toward the back post.
That goal made it 1-0 Richmond in the 71st minute.
The Lady Raiders’ lead was short-lived, however, as Puri one-timed a corner kick between Bostic and the right post with 8:26 left in regulation to tie the match.
Richmond had several chances to score in the closing minutes, including a shot from Smith that was saved and a Denson corner kick that skirted through the keeper’s box untouched.
With less than a minute to play, Covington almost replicated her goal with a similar shot, but it was stopped this time. Denson took a final corner kick as the clock wound inside 10 seconds and Ashly Gonzalez’s header attempt was wide.
“Not having three starting players tonight kind of hurt us, but those who were here adjusted and played well,” Larsen said. “We really wanted to get a win to help our playoff chances, so now we’ll just have to wait and see.”
The Lady Raiders finished the regular season with an 8-11-3 overall record. Within the Sandhills Athletic Conference, they went 5-7 for a fifth-place finish. Among the three 4A schools, the Lady Raiders were second.
Richmond will now await the NCHSAA’s release of playoff brackets Friday. Currently, the team is projected to make the 4A East’s final slot as the No. 32 team.
