ROCKINGHAM — Getting a victory and coming close to posting a shutout.
Things couldn’t have gone much better for the first game at Richmond Senior’s new soccer field Wednesday night.
Manuel Zapata scored the first goal on the new field with 27:49 left in the first half to send Richmond to a 2-1 victory over Pine Forest.
Carson Leviner added an insurance goal for the Raiders (2-0) with 23:32 remaining in the second half.
“It was good to open the new field on a positive note,” Richmond coach Bennie Howard said. “We had a great crowd tonight. I saw some old, familiar faces. Overall, I can’t complain too much.”
Pine Forest trimmed the deficit with just under 17 minutes left in the contest as Isaiah Benett flicked a shot into the upper left corner of the net past Richmond goalkeeper Cory Smith. Tyler Hinton was credited with the assist.
Smith would redeem himself moments later. With nearly five minutes left in the game, Hinton fired a near point-blank shot into the left corner of the net. Smith was able to make the save and preserve the victory.
Hinton’s shot was Pine Forest’s last quality scoring chance of the contest.
“Pine Forest was a good test for us,” Howard said.
Richmond will not return to action until 7 p.m. Monday when it travels to Lee County. The team will then head to Robeson County to face St. Pauls 6 p.m. Sept. 2. The next home contest is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 8 against North Moore. That game was supposed to serve as the field’s initial contest, but school officials elected to postpone the match.
“It is a bit of an unusual schedule,” Howard said. “We have had something like eight days off since our last match.”
In the junior varsity game, Richmond defeated Pine Forest 2-0. C.J. Helms netted the first goal for the Raiders (2-0). Erick Figueroa netted the final.
Before the varsity contest, Richmond athletic director Ricky Young spoke about the long process and many years it took to construct the soccer-only field at the school.
The new field has locker rooms, a concession stand, bleachers, a gazebo and a scoreboard. In addition, there is a paved parking lot.
Reach managing editor Shawn Stinson at 910-817-2671 and follow him on Twitter @scgolfer.