ROCKINGHAM — Jessi Graham scored twice, Deanna Gomez and Morgan Hooks each sent one into the back of the net and the Richmond girls soccer team blanked Hoke County 4-0 on its home field Monday evening.
It was the first time this season the Lady Raiders (4-2, 3-1 Sandhills Athletic Conference) held an opponent scoreless and was the first conference loss for the visiting Bucks (4-2, 2-1 SAC), who hadn’t been shutout prior to Monday’s match.
“We’ve been working on hitting our targets and finding the open space in practice … and I feel like it feel into place tonight. We had a little bit more time and opportunity to do those things,” Richmond head coach Chris Larsen said. “Now that we’ve seen it (work) and have that confidence, hopefully we can carry it through for the rest of the season.”
Richmond got off a few clean looks in the first half, but it was almost if the goal posts were wider than the net.
Sophomore striker Jayla McDougald, one of a few junior varsity players called up due to injuries, just missed out on the first varsity goal of her career when her shot bounced off the right post in the 15th minute.
Less than two minutes later, freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Huff was looking for what would’ve been her sixth goal of the season — her five scores lead the team — but the attempt from the left side clanked off the post. And then senior midfielder Jayana Nicholson raced past the Hoke defense only to have her shot hit the top bar with 16:10 remaining in the first half.
After so many close calls, the home team finally got on the scoreboard in the 26th minute when Hooks, senior midfielder, got one to go on an assist from Graham, senior forward. Hooks would return the favor in the 28th minute by finding Graham for the Lady Raiders’ second score of the night — which helped them go into halftime with a 2-0 advantage.
“We were all around it,” Larsen said of his team getting so close to scoring before actually putting one into the back of the net. “I think I’ve used the analogy before, but it’s like shooting free throws. Once you see one go in, it’s kind of contagious.
“I knew once we got that first goal, it would trickle down,” he continued. “And it did.”
Senior midfielder Deanna Gomez netted a goal nine minutes into the second half to put Richmond ahead by three goals, and then Graham scored the team’s — and the game’s — fourth and final goal with a header in the 50th minute.
It was the first time since the season-opening win over Cape Fear that Graham had scored a goal.
“Hopefully this was a confidence builder for her,” Larsen said of Graham’s performance.
The Lady Raiders will travel to Lumberton on Tuesday, Mar. 19.
Hoke County’s Aaliyah McKeithan (12) attempts to block Richmond’s Jessi Graham (15) from getting to the ball during the first half of Monday night’s match. Graham scored two goals in the Lady Raiders’ 4-0 win.