ROCKINGHAM — In Wednesday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference match, 100 minutes of soccer wasn’t enough time to decide a winner.
It was a tie between Richmond Senior High School and Union Pines High School after 80 minutes of regular play and two 10-minute overtimes.
The Vikings beat the Raiders 1-0 in overtime, even though the Raiders’ offense was more active in the second half.
Head coach Chris Larsen said, “We just really couldn’t capitalize tonight.” “Both teams missed a place kick, and we lost the rhythm we had last week.” I’m not sure if it’s because we played after a long break or if it was something else.
“We didn’t play as well in the first half as we had been.” We missed some chances and couldn’t score when we had them because of that. I thought there were times tonight when we held on to the ball too long.
In the first half, both Richmond and Union Pines missed penalty kicks that they should have taken after mistakes in the box.
In the 15th minute, the Vikings’ shot missed the goal and went wide to the right. In the 29th minute, senior Gonzalo Gonzalez hit the post with his shot. He got his head on a rebound after his shot, but it was stopped.
Young Camden Williams started in goal as a junior. In the third minute, he made a great sliding save to keep Union Pines from scoring.
Before the game, senior Noah Gil had the second-best chance for the team to score. He took a shot from the left side of the box, but it went into the side net. In the 35th minute, Williams timed a long shot that went over the bar. It was a very important save.
In the second half, the Raiders stepped up their game and kept the ball in the middle of the field to make scoring runs easier.
In the 25th second of the second half, junior Memphis Jacobs tried to shoot a dart at the goal, but it was blocked. In the 48th minute, Landon Summerlin took a free kick. Gil tried to turn it, but his shot was just off.
In the second half, Williams made a few small saves to keep the Vikings (4-5-1, 1-0-1 SAC) from scoring. Richmond’s defense held them off.
In the 57th minute, sophomore Daniel Gomez laid the ball out for a diving header try inside the six-yard box. In the 64th minute, Gil ran down the right side and shot high.
Both teams didn’t do much in the first overtime period. Neither Richmond nor Union Pines made any big runs in the attacking zone.
For the Raiders, there were two more chances to score in the second extra. Gil’s first shot, a laser after a corner kick, just missed the bar. After that, there was another corner kick that bounced around in the box but was picked up.
In the last 15 seconds, the Vikings made one last push with a throw-in. But Jacobs picked off a pass and dribbled it out into open space, which stopped the time.
Union Pines had 11 shots on goal, while Richmond had nine, with four by Gil. For the Raiders, Williams made six great stops.
Larsen said, “In the second half, we dominated a little more.” “There were chances around the box that we just couldn’t take advantage of.” On the other hand, we didn’t give up anything that would have let them score.
“We still don’t have a win, but we’ve tied two games in a row,” he said to end. “This is going to be the kind of year in conference play where if you’re on that night, it could be your night.” We keep telling the guys to keep playing and doing the right things.
Tuesday, the Raiders (1-8-2, 0-2-1 SAC) play at Lee County High School (4-7, 1-2 SAC). This is the first of three games next week. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m.
JV Raiders pull away in second half
On Wednesday, Richmond beat Union Pines 3-0 in a junior varsity soccer game. Three goals were scored in the second half.
Both teams had chances late in the first half, but neither scored. In the 26th minute, junior Allen Franco was fouled and got a penalty kick, but his shot was blocked.
After three minutes, Union Pines got a second chance to shoot on a corner kick. Sophomore center back Ashton Mabe was there to stop it. As the ball bounced toward the open goal, he made a wide kick to stop it.
Richmond’s first goal came early in the second half from freshman Javeon Littlejohn.
Littlejohn ran 20 yards down the middle of the field and then dodged one last defender before blasting a shot past the goalie one-on-one. In the 41st minute, his goal made it 1-0.
After four minutes, Richmond scored after the JV Vikings turned the ball over in the offensive third.
Martin Lopez, a freshman, shot from the top of the 18-yard box. A defender blocked the ball, and it curled into the goal for an own goal.
Ari McLendon, a freshman, got the game-winning goal, which was similar to Littlejohn’s.
In the top right corner of the box, McLendon found himself with room and time to shoot. He sent a rocket on the run that hit the net just below the crossbar. With 4:50 left in the game, the third goal was scored.
Head coach Bennie Howard said, “We have to treat the first half as seriously as the second half when we play good teams.” “We need to be ready to play.” The game lasts 70 minutes, not 35.
The JV Raiders (5-4-2, 2-0-1 SAC) play at Lee County on Monday at 5 p.m.