ROCKINGHAM — Although the Richmond girls soccer team was held without a goal in the final 40 minutes of play, it was still able to complete the season sweep of conference foe Hoke County with a 3-1 win Monday evening.
The Lady Raiders (11-4, 8-3 SAC) came out energized and netted all three goals in the first half in order to head into halftime with momentum on their side. Junior striker Morgan Hooks scored the game’s first two goals within two minutes of one another and then senior striker Hanna Millen tacked on the team’s final goal of the night in the 27th minute.
Millen, who injured her back versus Jack Britt, was one of a few players who returned to the lineup after recently missing some time last week. Junior midfielder Jayana Nicholson and sophomore striker Carley Lambeth also stepped back into their regular roles in the conference win.
“We got the full squad back,” head coach Bennie Howard said. “I’m happy that everybody’s healthy.”
Chloe Wiggins, junior midfielder, had a chance to add to the lead in the opening minute of the second half with a shot from the right side of the field, but the ball bounced off the goal post and rolled out of bounds.
A couple of free kicks from sophomore defender Avy Lucero — the first in the 57th minute and the second with 2:22 left in the game — also missed the mark, keeping the home team off the scoreboard after the break.
Hoke County (4-11-2, 3-5-2 SAC) scored its lone goal of the matchup just two minutes into the second half on a corner kick from sophomore midfielder Cimone Alicea — who had another opportunity to score on a free kick in the 65th minute but sent the ball over the goal post.
“We got off to a good start in the first half, but we kind of took our foot off the gas and just cruised in the second half … and that’s upsetting and frustrating,” Howard added. “We’re tied for second (in the conference with Jack Britt) but we play like we want to be third. And we’ve got to change that.”
Richmond will be on the road for the rest of the week, traveling to Lumberton on Wednesday and then making the trip to Forest Hills for a non-conference match on Thursday.