Richmond Senior’s Jonathan Thames prepares to set up teammate Brandon Standridge’s first-half goal during the Raiders’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Scots Wednesday night in Laurinburg.
Unfortunately, those plans went astray as the Fighting Scots edged out the Raiders, 4-3.
The Fighting Scots came out early to prove that they weren’t going to be intimidated by the Raiders, scoring the first goal at the 24:00 mark of the first half.
The Raiders had quality shots early in the first half, but shots by Peter Christiansen hit the left leg of the goal twice, and Carlos Morales fired a shot that sailed over the goal.
Brandon Standridge found the back of the net for the Raiders, tying the game at 1-1 with 21:51 left in the first half, off a well placed assist by John Thames.
The Raiders were the aggressors in the first half, attacking the Scotland defense for more than twenty-five minutes of the first half.
The Scots found the right touch once again at the 21:03, but the Raiders clawed back into the match with a goal by Miguel Reyes at the 2:54 mark to tie the game at 2-all going into the half.
During the halftime break, Richmond coach Bennie Howard reminded his players that they had 40 minutes left to get it done, and the Raiders came out firing in the second half.
The second half saw Richmond keeper Chris McDonald make three diving saves to keep the Scots off the board early, but a well placed shot gave the Scots a 3-2 lead at the 30:50 mark.
As time wound down in the second half, it appeared as if the Scots had the Raiders offense figured out — until the 11:30 mark when Peter Christiansen finally hit his mark and tied the score at 3-3.
The Richmond fans erupted into cheers as it appeared the Raiders were on their way to a well earned victory.
The clock stuck all zeros, and the Raiders knew they had to dig in for a twenty minute overtime period to decide their fate in the conference standings.
The Fighting Scots lived up to their namesake as they pushed the game winning goal across at the 8:45 mark of the first ten minute overtime.
Zach Shilen had two quality chances to tie the score for the Raiders, the first chance saw the Scots keeper block his shot as Shilen broke away from the defender.
The second chance came on a controversial call by the official as the Scotland defender was in the goal and caught the ball then handed it to keeper.
Shilen once again found himself with a golden opportunity, but couldn’t convert on the shot and that sealed the game for the Scots.
“We played our butts off tonight, and just came up a little short,” Howard said.
“This is a typical game between us and Scotland,” Howard added. “It always comes down to the last minute and one big goal decides it.”
The Raiders will travel back to Richmond County to prepare for their first round Southeastern Conference Tournament match up against the Lumberton Pirates.
The contest is scheduled for Monday night at Raider Stadium; game time has not been set at press time.
Contact sports reporter Travis Anderson at 997-3111 ext. 44 or via e-mail at tanderson@yourdailyjournal.com
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