ROCKINGHAM — A few missed opportunities in the second half of Wednesday’s game may have cost the Richmond Senior girls soccer team a chance to earn a win — or at least tie — on Senior Night.
“This one is going to be a hard one to swallow because we played well in the first half and then really played good in the second half,” coach Bennie Howard said. “We had two or three great chances to score but we couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. And we just ran out of time.”
The Lady Raiders (11-3-2, 5-3 SEC) tied the game 1-1 after Cassie McFayden, one of the team’s three seniors, found Hanna Millen for a goal in the 56th minute. Lumberton’s Brooke Taylor quickly answered three minutes later, however, with her second score of the night — and the Lady Pirates held on for the 2-1 victory.
Less than a minute after her goal, Millen had an opportunity to tack on another score and give Richmond the lead. But the junior’s shot rolled wide left.
Lumberton goalkeeper Hannah Monteiro recorded two good saves on shots from Jessi Graham in the last 12 minutes of the match. Monteiro stood tall when Graham got off a clean shot with 11:42 left in the game and then made a diving save moments later in a one-on-one situation with Graham.
“We’ve got to be able to put the ball in the net — that’s bottom line,” Howard added.
Taylor wasted little time getting Lumberton on the board, as her first goal came inside the third minute due to a miscommunication in the back of Richmond’s defense.
“I just don’t understand that because we work on that every day,” Howard said.
Despite the loss, McFayden, Tatyana Gould and Cameron Hudson enjoyed the celebration of their respective careers before the team’s final home game of the regular season. They each shared the special moment with family members.
“They’re going to be hard to replace. I’m very proud of our girls,” Howard said.
Richmond will travel to Seventy-First on Thursday before heading into Spring Break. When they return from the time off, the Lady Raiders will make trips to Pinecrest (Apr. 24) and Scotland (Apr. 26) to wrap up the regular season.
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Richmond Senior’s Morgan Hooks, right, battles with Lumberton’s Harley Wilkerson during the first half of Wednesday’s conference match.