The Richmond Senior men’s soccer team kept another opponent off the scoreboard Wednesday night.

Coming off a 1-0 win over Forest Hills Tuesday, the Raiders blanked Union Pines 4-0 at Raider Stadium for their second straight shutout victory. Richmond improved its record to 6-2 on the season and dropped the Vikings to 0-4.

Raiders coach Bennie Howard was pleased with how his defense has played in the last two contests and hopes it will continue to play consistent with Southeastern Conference games approaching.

“We’re getting better sticking with our marks and following them all the way through,” Howard said. “When we play tough conference teams like Pinecrest and Lumberton that is the type of philosophy we’ve got to stick with.”

Howard admitted he was concerned that fatigue would be a factor after Richmond played a game on Tuesday, but said he was proud of how the team came out with the right mindset.

Davis Hilton got the Raiders’ offense going as he scored from 10 yards out with a shot that sailed over Union Pines’ goalkeeper PJ Schmittdiel off an assist from Greg Balzer. Hilton’s goal landed in the back of the net at the 16-minute mark of the first half and gave Richmond a 1-0 lead.

Hilton, who has three goals on the season, scored for the second straight contest.

“Greg dropped me a cross pass and I just made a good kick and fortunately it went over their goalie’s head and into the back of the net,” Hilton said. “I’m glad that I was again able to contribute to our team’s offense.”

Hilton assisted on Richmond’s next score as he delivered a pass to Miguel Reyes, who booted in a shot from 5 yards out in the 37th minute to extend the Raiders lead to 2-0 at intermission.

Richmond kept the pressure on in the second half as Brandon Benoist connected on a shot from 10 yards out in the 52nd minute, increasing the Raiders’ advantage to 3-0. Brandon Standridge registered Richmond’s last goal on a header in the 57th minute to complete the Raiders’ four-goal win.

“I think right now, everybody is pulling their own weight,” said Raiders keeper Evan Frye. “We’ve stepped up defensively and we’re passing the ball well. We’ve just got to continue to play up to our capabilities.”

The Raiders begin a stretch of seven straight road games. Richmond returns to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Hoke in its first Southeastern Conference match of the season.

n Cory Smith’s scored the lone goal of the game to help the Richmond junior varsity boys’ soccer team blank Union Pines 1-0 and earned its first victory of the season in four games.

The JV Raiders return to action at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hoke.

n Contact sports reporter Corey Davis at 997-3111, ext. 44; e-mail cdavis@yourdailyjournal.com