
ROCKINGHAM — When the Richmond Senior boys soccer team welcomed Lumberton to town Thursday evening, it knew it had a chance to clinch the conference championship.
The Raiders either needed a win or a tie to claim the SEC title, as a loss would’ve kept the race for the top open.
“In a game like tonight, I think some of them got a little frustrated and tried to put a little bit too much pressure on themselves to win the game,” coach Bennie Howard explained. “The guys consider themselves family, so they’ve got to depend on their family.”
Neither team could find the back of the net in the first 90 minutes, but scores from Lumberton’s Rene Altamirano and Richmond’s Carlos Alcacor in the second overtime forced the game to end a 1-1 tie — which secured the SEC championship for the Raiders.
“It’s a great accomplishment for our guys,” Howard said. “I’m very proud of their hard work throughout the summer and the season. We have a great coaching staff that helped us in a multitude of ways to get these guys prepared for this.
“One of our goals was to try and win the conference championship. And we were fortunate enough to do it.”
Things almost went downhill for Richmond when Altamirano slipped past its defense and got off back-to-back shots inside the 61st minute. Corey Smith, however, was there to save both attempts and kept the game scoreless.
Altamirano would redeem himself with the goal in the 93rd minute, but a foul inside the box — committed by the Pirates — gave the Raiders a chance to tie the game up with a penalty kick.
And that’s exactly what Alacacor did.
“We were lucky to get out with a tie tonight,” Howard added.
Thursday’s victory came a day after Richmond (13-2-1, 7-0-1) downed Scotland 4-1 on the road.
The Raiders took a 1-0 lead after the half, thanks to Alcacor, but the Scots were able to knot the game up not long after. However, Johnathan Tadlock, Alex Alvarado and Carter Roberson all scored within a 12-minute span to help create separation and grab the victory.
The junior varsity team also defeated Scotland, winning its last game of the season by a score of 5-1 and ended the year with a 7-3-2 overall record.
“The JV guys are a great group of young men and we look forward to them moving up to the varsity ranks next year,” Howard said.
As for this year’s varsity squad, the Raiders will take the time to celebrate their conference title and then get ready for their last regular season games against Purnell Swett at home (Tuesday, Oct. 25) and on the road at Lumberton (Wednesday, Oct. 26).
Reach sports editor Leon Hargrove Jr. at 910-817-2673 and follow the sports section on Twitter @RCDailySports.