ROCKINGHAM — For the third straight match, the Richmond junior varsity boys’ soccer team failed to score.
The JV Raiders were shut out in a 1-0 loss to St. Pauls High School Monday.
During the team’s current three-game skid, Richmond has been outscored 8-0.
The JV Bulldogs scored the match’s lone goal in the 44th minute.
“Despite losing, I thought we played well,” head coach Jessi Weigman said. “It’s tough being in a scoring drought but we created some chances and there were glimpses of things we did well.
“Hopefully things will continue to get better for us and we can carry over our momentum later this week to get back in the win column.”
A scoreless first half was mostly spent with the JV Raiders and JV Bulldogs trading possessions near the middle of the field. Both teams had a few scoring chances, but nobody was home.
Sophomore goalkeeper Jake Gardner wasn’t tested too much between the posts, making a handful of stops on net in the opening 35 minutes.
Richmond’s first quality scoring chance came from sophomore JaVeion Littlejohn in the 10th minute, a strike wide of the right post.
Sophomore Jayden Scire had a chance seven minutes later on a corner kick. On the volley into the box, Scire just missed a header attempt on the keeper’s doorstep.
Freshman Mason Huff had the final quality attempt in the 24th minute, ripping a blast from the top of the 18 that was blocked wide.
The second half saw the JV Raiders have their chances to knot the score, mostly off the foot of sophomore striker Kerick Hairston Jr. His first of three chances in the final half came in the 39th minute on a 1v1 rush into the box that was successfully challenged by the keeper.
Hairston Jr.’s next shot attempt came in the 43rd minute, a strike from 20 yards that just missed the upper right ninety.
The JV Bulldogs’ goal a minute later was the result of a turnover in the back by Richmond. The shot was a dart that snuck between Gardner and the right post.
Gardner made two saves in the closing 10 minutes of regulation to keep Richmond within striking distance. With 5:40 to play, Hairston Jr.’s final shot attempt was from the left side across the goal mouth, but it was scooped up.
Richmond nearly tied it with 70 seconds to play when freshman Eduardo Lalito Soriano tapped a shot off the left post after collecting a bouncing ball in the keeper’s box.
The JV Raiders managed to send two corner kicks into the danger zone in the match’s last minute, but both attempts came up empty.
The JV Raiders (4-4) play another non-conference match Wednesday at Montgomery Central High School. The match will start at 5:15 p.m.
