ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond boys soccer team cost itself a chance to repeat as the undefeated conference champions Wednesday night with a loss to conference rival Pinecrest.
Coach Bennie Howard said the Raiders “came out tight” in the first half and that led to them giving up a goal in the opening minutes of the match. They weren’t able to recover from the slow start and went on to lose for the second time this season, a 5-1 collapse to the Patriots on their home field.
“We played scared and I don’t understand why,” coach Bennie Howard said. “It’s not like this is the first time we’ve every played a soccer match.”
Richmond had no answer on offense or defense in the first 40 minutes of play, as it struggled to move the ball down the field and keep the Patriots from scoring. Pinecrest junior Jasper Ardinger added to his team’s lead in the 12th minute, and then senior Christopher Everett placed one in the back of the net a litte more than four minutes later.
And the Patriots went into halftime with a 3-0 lead.
“Hats off to them. They took it to us in the first half,” Howard added.
Pinecrest (4-1-1, 2-0 SAC) came out the gates firing in the second half as well, with senior Jimmy Kester putting the away team ahead by four scores with a header — after an assist from classmate Ryan Green, who put on a dribbling display prior to his pass.
Richmond’s Yash Patel, a senior goalie, came in to take over goalkeeping duties for the rest of the second half and only allowed one more goal, which was a penalty kick inside the 67th minute from Pinecrest senior Haden Smith.
The team’s lone score took place when senior midfielder Victor Lucero put one over the goalkeeper’s head with 25:37 left in the second half. The Patriots almost scored in their own goal a few minutes later, provoking a reaction from the Raider crowd, but the ball rolled left of the goalpost.
Wednesday’s match was a physical one, with Richmond receiving what Howard believes is the team’s 10th yellow card of the season. He says he expected the game to be physical, as the opponent is a physical squad, but he’s not excited about being carded when the situation doesn’t call for it.
“I don’t coach a team like that. It’s a reflection of me,” he said. “Yeah, you’re going to get yellow cards, sometimes, but don’t get them from bone-headed plays. That upsets me to no end.”
Richmond (4-2, 1-1 SAC) has a week off before it faces Jack Britt, a new conference opponent that currently has 2-5-1 overall record. The Buccaneers have already played three conference matches, taking down Scotland by mercy rule twice but falling to Lumberton 3-1 on Wednesday.
“We’ve got practice tomorrow, so we’ll come out and get ready,” Howard said.
Reach sports editor Leon Hargrove Jr. at 910-817-2673 and follow the sports section on Twitter @RCDailySports.