ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior high school Raiders had to go to an emergency goalkeeper Monday night after keepers Cam Williams and Adrian Padron suffered injuries in the second half of Monday’s game 5-0 loss to the Pinecrest Patriots.
The Patriots, who currently top the s”Sandhills Athletic Conference standings with an undefeated 6-0 record, jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the Raiders after finding the net 17 minutes into the first half.
“We’re still learning. We’re still growing. We’re still a young team. Hopefully, we’re taking all of this moving forward with it and taking something out of it ” RSHS coach Chris Larsen said. “We beat Southern Lee the other week 3-1. That was a big confidence boost. That’s what I’ve referenced to them at halftime. I’ve seen it. [They’ve] done it. [They’ve] seen success out of it. It’s just a matter of replicating that success. We didn’t do those things tonight, and like I told them ‘It showed.’ We didn’t have many scoring opportunities. We didn’t get the ball off of our foot. We did not work together and when you don’t do that you don’t create chances.”
Despite giving up three scores, Williams maintained his composure only giving up a goal before a mid-air collision with a teammate while attempting to block a shot prematurely ended William’s night. Padron, who planned to take the night off to rest an injured hamstring, stepped in but re-aggravated the injury. A limping Padron attempted to stay in the game, but game officials eventually sent him to the Raiders’ bench. With Padron and Williams unavailable, Coach Larsen opted to center back Gonzalo Gonzalez, who despite the disadvantage kept the Patriots off the scoreboard through the final minutes.
“We came out a little bit flat, and [Pinecrest] was the more aggressive team. It put us on our heels … We put pressure on ourselves that we normally shouldn’t,” Larsen said. “We played a lot better in the second half. It didn’t show on the scoreboard, but I think we moved the ball a lot better in the second half, until we got banged up here and there and started moving some bodies around. That’s the nature of it sometimes.”
With the win, Pinecrest improved to 10-2 and remains undefeated in SAC play at 6-0. After ending their previous game against Richmond in a 1-0 nail-biter, Pinecrest coach Andrew Bradham said his team had no intentions of undermining the Raiders, who fell to 3-10-2 and 2-4-1 in the SAC. The Raiders return to the pitch Thursday for a road game against Hoke County while the Patriots face Southern Lee, who currently sits second in the SAC standings.
“The guys are really enjoying the brand, the style of play we’re putting out there. There is a really good culture on the team. They are positive with each other and all of that, but they are also demanding excellence in each other, and wanting more in themselves,” said Bradham, who looks forward to facing Southern Lee later this week. “We feel good. We feel confident. Nobody wants to be over confident in this situation, but at the same time we don’t want to go into that game confident, ready to play our game and battle.”
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