ROCKINGHAM — A hundred minutes of soccer wasn’t enough time to determine a winner during Thursday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference soccer match.
The Richmond Senior High School girls’ soccer team battled to a 1-1 draw with Hoke County in its final match before spring break.
Despite taking a first-half lead, and having several chances in the second half and the two 10-minute overtime periods, Richmond couldn’t secure a crucial 4A win.
Sophomore Kaleigh Cloninger netted Richmond’s lone goal, her second of the season, in the 24th minute.
A volley into the box sent the ball bouncing high over several players, including freshman teammate Jamyia Lindsey, who also had a chance to take a shot.
Cloninger collected the ball and sent it inside the right post past goalkeeper Bella Khantivong from inside the six-yard box.
The Lady Raiders would carry that 1-0 lead into halftime. Clears in the defensive zone by seniors Destiny Barrick and Paxlee Faircloth, along with a save on a free kick by freshman keeper Quanna Bostic, kept the Lady Bucks off the board.
Hoke County tied the match in the 48th minute when Mitsuko Mathews deflected a shot off the crossbar and into the net.
“I thought we came out pretty flat, but we finally got a ball in a dangerous area that Kaleigh was able to give us an early lead,” head coach Chris Larsen said. “Hoke doesn’t give up and they tied it up, and that lit a fire under our girls.
“They played hard the last 30 minutes of regulation and the two overtime periods,” he added. “I’ve preached all year that we have to show up with our A game because everyone is trying to get a win at this point in the season.”
Richmond had several chances in the closing 30 minutes of the second half to find the back of the net, including a free kick on frame from junior Kalei Sriratanakoul in the 53rd minute. Lindsey and junior Jennifer Gomez both made runs on the net a couple minutes apart that were saved.
Junior Sheccid Heaton added a shot from inside the six-yard box in the 66th minute that was pushed wide, and senior Ellie Buck’s shot on a free kick in the 67th minute just missed its mark.
Heaton added two more runs inside the 18-yard box in the closing 10 minutes of regulation, and Faircloth sent another free kick from 20 yards on frame with just over four minutes left.
Bostic made a diving save to her left on Sachiko Mathews from 10 yards to keep the game knotted at one goal apiece.
In the first overtime period, Bostic opened with a pair of saves against Sachiko Mathews and Anita Amofah. Lindsey had two chances to score, including a cross from Barrick, and Cloninger nearly scored her second goal during a flurry inside the box.
The final 10 minutes saw both teams trade possessions, and Faircloth made a nice block with her body to force a clear in the 95th minute.
Sophomore Allie Rodgers had Richmond’s final chance on net along the left post, but her shot trickled just wide in the 97th minute. Bostic made one more athletic save on Sachiko Mathews with 22 seconds remaining in the second overtime.
“Luckily we were able to maintain the tie, but it stinks going into break with this game being the one the girls have to think about,” Larsen closed. “But it could be good and make the girls focus for our final three regular-season games.”
The Lady Raiders (8-8-1, 3-5-1 SAC) will get an extended break and return to the pitch on Tuesday, April 26.
Richmond will welcome in Union Pines High School (9-3-1, 6-1 SAC), a team it lost to in double overtime earlier this spring.
JV Lady Raiders mercy-rule Hoke County
Also hosting Hoke County on Thursday, the Richmond junior varsity girls’ soccer team blanked Hoke County 9-0.
Scoring seven goals in the first half, the JV Lady Raiders added two more in the final 35 minutes to end the game early.
Head coach Bennie Howard said he was proud of the team’s distribution of scoring, as six different players found the back of the net. Ashly Gonzalez scored a hat trick in the win.
Also adding two goals was Karley Simmons, and Hanna Smith, Lakayla Patterson, Alivia Webb and Genesis Alecia all had one goal.
With the win, the JV Lady Raiders improved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 against SAC opponents.
