ROCKINGHAM – The Richmond Raider soccer team had a good fight Monday against Lee County High School, which currently ranks first in the Sandhills Athletic Conference standings.
Although the Raiders entered half with two goals, they gave up three results in the second half to fall 5-2 to the Yellow Jackets.
Richmond had lost a few starters, but that didn’t stop the offense from producing in the closing minutes of the first half. The two raiders’ balance sheets came in the last two minutes before the buzzer.
Senior striker Han Jalbasuren scored his second goal of the fall in the 39th minute and collected a loose ball in the penalty area. His senior colleague Justin McDougald fired a shot from the left post that ricocheted off Jalbasuren, which diverted him into a wide-open net.
On his debut at university, James Eason was in charge of the other goal in his sophomore year and found 3.3 seconds to go in the first half.
Jalbasuren crossed from the left into the six yard box to Eason, who got possession against Alan Hernandez. Eason shot a shot just right into the goal, past goalkeeper Ivan Lopez.
“I got a call 20 minutes before the game and I came out here to try and help,” said Eason. “I’ve played with these guys before and Han made a nice cross into the box. I just went to the defender and got possession by shooting the shot into the net.
“It feels good to know that I can play at this level and work with the guys to score and help the team,” he added.
Sophomore James Eason (13) scores his first college goal of his career in the 40th minute. (Kyle Pillar / The Richmond Observer)
Lee County scored Logan Jordan’s first two goals in the 5th and 16th minutes. After the second goal, junior goalkeeper Ethan McDonald was put on the net and the Yellow Jackets (7-3-1, 3-0-1 SAC) hidden for the remainder of the first half.
Richmond had “several chances” in the first 40 minutes, said head coach Chris Larsen afterwards. McDougald and Eason both had shots near half-time and Jalbasuren would have scored twice in the 18-yard space before scoring his goal.
Larsen added that he was proud of how the Raiders kept fighting throughout the game, especially that he found a groove before the break to tie the game together.
“The big difference was that the guys stayed with what we were practicing and they saw that they could have some chances early on,” said Larsen. “We kept hacking and scored successes in the last two minutes of halftime.
“We played well, but we made the mistake of letting (Lee County) score the first two goals,” he continued. “Whoever capitalizes on mistakes wins. The good thing is that we were able to fight and keep the 2-2 halfway down, and we played well until we conceded the second goal and lost with two goals. “
McDonald parried after a shot from Irvin Gutierrez to tie the game in the 43rd minute and made an even bigger save after a penalty kick in the 48th minute. Richmond was called in for a foul in the box, which allowed Jordan to win the PK.
On the kick, McDonald dived to his left and knocked out the shot before the defense cleared him out of the zone.
“I learned from previous PKs to look dead in the eyes of the kicker and when they start their run they look left or right,” said McDonald. “The boy looked right so I just thought I was going to the left and I could actually save.
“I had a lot of adrenaline at that moment and that was a huge saving then,” he continued. “That strengthened me and helped the team to see that we still have a chance to compete with a team that is at the forefront of the conference.”
Three minutes later, however, Richmond was called for another foul in the box. Both Larsen and McDonald said they thought the call was unnecessary, but that allowed Gutierrez to take a PK and score the game winner.
McDonald made a good effort to stop the shot, but Gutierrez tossed the ball into the left post in the 51st minute.
Lee County added goals in the 70th (Thomas Perry) and 71st minutes (Jordan) to secure the win.
Senior Han Jalbasuren (17) celebrates his goal with teammate Alex Medina (6) in the Monday game. (Kyle Pillar / The Richmond Observer)
“I didn’t necessarily agree to the call to the second PK,” said Larsen. “But I was encouraged to watch our boys play as a unit. Whenever the boys play the way I ask, we are successful.
“Inevitably we’ll make mistakes, but it’s the way we adjust and adapt to it,” he concluded. “We’re not quite finished yet and hopefully have given the guys some confidence tonight as we prepare to go into the second round of Conference Play.”
The Raiders (3-7, 1-4 SAC) are taking a break from conference play and will travel to Porter Ridge High School (6-1-1) on Wednesday without a conference. The game starts at 6.30 p.m.