ROCKINGHAM — Both of Richmond Senior’s soccer teams struggled at home Thursday against the Jack Britt Buccaneers, with the varsity squad scoring the only goal for the Raiders.
Despite several consecutive saves from Richmond goalkeeper Fanciso Sanchez in the first half of the varsity match-up, Jack Britt’s Facundo Rivera slipped the ball past to put the Buccaneers on the board.
During the half-time pep talk, with Jack Britt up 1-0, Raiders head coach Chris Larsen encouraged his players to take a shot if they had the opportunity “and see what happens.”
During the second half, Ronin Miller scored two goals for the Buccaneers within eight minutes of gameplay.
With 5:15 left on the clock, Richmond’s Patrick Smith found the back of the net for the Raiders’ only goal of the game, with the home team falling 3-1.
“They’re well-coached and they’re good at what they do,” Larsen said about the Buccaneers. “They play three in the back and those three guys pretty much clean up anything that you throw at them — they win the ball out of the air, they’ve got some speed.”
Larsen said his team struggled to break Jack Britt’s back line, adding that the Raiders have hit a mid-season slump.
“We played good throughout parts of the game, we’ve just got to figure out a way to play good for the whole entire game,” the coach said.
Drew Moree makes one of several saves during the junior varsity soccer match-up with Jack Britt on Oct. 16.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
Earlier in the evening, the junior varsity game remained scoreless in the first half, with Drew Moree making several saves for the Raiders.
The only score for the match was made in the second half by Jack Britt’s Yariel Duarte.
Richmond’s varsity team currently sits at No. 4 in the standings for the Mid-South 7A/8A Conference with a 2-4-1 record (9-8-3 overall for the season).
Hoke County sits at the No. 1 spot, followed by Pinecrest. Both have a 5-1-1 record in conference play. Pine Forest is the only one of the six schools without a conference win.
The JV Raiders are at No. 3 in conference standings with a 4-3 record (11-4-3 overall). Jack Britt is No. 1 with six wins and one tie.
The Raiders hit the road next week to take on Hoke on Oct. 19 and Overhills on Oct. 21.
Larsen said he expects tight games for the rest of the year, which is expected at this point in the season.
“Hopefully we can reconvene, get a little bit healthy, have a little bit of rest … and find some positive things on Monday night.”
