The Richmond Senior boys’ soccer team scrimmages during practice Thursday afternoon.
                                 Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal

The Richmond Senior boys’ soccer team scrimmages during practice Thursday afternoon.

Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal

<p>The Richmond Senior boys’ soccer team scrimmages during practice Thursday afternoon.</p>
                                 <p>Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal</p>

The Richmond Senior boys’ soccer team scrimmages during practice Thursday afternoon.

Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal

<p>The Richmond Senior boys’ soccer team scrimmages during practice Thursday afternoon.</p>
                                 <p>Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal</p>

The Richmond Senior boys’ soccer team scrimmages during practice Thursday afternoon.

Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal

ROCKINGHAM — Despite having to adjust and adapt to all the pandemic-related changes, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ soccer team is doing its best to treat this upcoming season just like any other year.

Normally, the team is used to “rolling through the summer” and getting started right away in August, but when the NCHSAA adjusted the athletics schedule, it made things much different.

“We got some workouts in, we had a Christmas break, then we had a few weeks practice and now we’re playing,” head coach Chris Larsen said. “I just want these guys to be ready for whatever comes. I told them to be ready to play whenever, whoever and however, and just put forth the best effort that we can.”

Last year, despite going 10-10-2 overall, the Raiders went 9-5 in conference play, which earned them a third-place finish behind Pinecrest and Hoke County.

In recent years, Larsen hasn’t shied away from scheduling tough teams in non-conference. As part of his long-term goal of building the program and rising to that next level, he said you have to play better competition and as a result, you’re “going to take lumps every now and again.”

But, this year with the shortened, conference-only schedule, the Raiders like their chances to be able to improve their win-loss record and give themselves a chance at a possible playoff berth.

“I think we’re a lot better than we were last year, and we have a lot more conditioning than we did last year,” said junior midfielder Alex Medina. “I feel like we should be able to compete in conference and hopefully make the state playoffs.”

Of the team’s 37 goals scored a season ago, two players, who combined to score just five of those goals, return this year.

“We graduated the majority of our starters last year,” Larsen said. “Some of the guys who are going to be playing a lot of minutes this year – played a little bit, one or two of them started, but for the majority of them — this is going to be their first real taste of being the key guys.”

Included in that returning group are seniors Noah Aiken and Hector Castro. Aiken scored four goals last season, while Castro added one.

Castro is a four-year player and Larsen is hoping he finally has that breakout year this season.

“I’d describe him as the guy that’s not going to blow you up with stats, but he’s solid and he keeps things going in the middle of the field,” Larsen said.

Last year, before the season started, senior goalkeeper James Ammons was forced into action after the team’s starting keeper went down with an injury. Larsen hopes Ammons can continue to pick up where he left off last year.

“He really stepped up last year kind of spur of the moment, and I think he played really well,” Larsen said. “You could see as the season went on how much he grew.”

The Raiders will have to replace most of their defensive backline, but Larsen said he expects newcomer Padron Abrahm to slot into one of the center-back spots.

Ammons said he and the backline players have spent a lot of time working on defensive positioning because the goalkeeper and backline work cohesively as a unit, and are in constant communication based on what the opposing team is doing in attack.

“We’ve got a bunch of chemistry this year,” Ammons said, “the bunch of us, we hang out not just on the field but also off of it.”

In attack, Larsen said he plans to rotate his “handful” of forwards based on who’s hot and who’s scoring at the time. He added that will apply to his starting-11 as a whole, as well.

“I think it’s going to be a team effort,” Larsen said. “I’m not going to say we have one or two dominant players. I think it’s just going to take all 11 of them out there to be successful. That’s my philosophy with them — I said I’m going to put whatever 11 we have hot, whatever 11 we have healthy and with fresh legs, and we’re going to do it.”

The Raiders open their season Saturday on the road at Purnell Swett after a schedule adjustment moved the game up from its original date on Monday.

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Reach Neel Madhavan at 910-817-2671 ext. 2751 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter at @NeelMadhavan.