LAURINBURG —A heavy last-minute offensive push by Scotland’s varsity boys soccer team wasn’t enough to even the score with Richmond in a 2-1 loss to the Raiders on Wednesday night.
Scotland’s Rubicel Flores scored on a direct kick to cut Richmond’s lead to 2-1 with just over 10 minutes in the game. After the Raiders (3-7-1, 3-3 SAC) were briefly able to keep the ball in their own attacking third, Scotland (3-8-1, 1-6) found some momentum with less than nine minutes left in the contest.
“A 2-0 game is a whole lot different than a 2-1 game,” Scotland coach Blake Dickerson said. “Especially when you’ve only got about 10 minutes left in the game. When Rubi scored that goal, it changed the whole dynamic of the game. The kids got all fired up.”
Andrew Oswald received a pass in front of the goal with around eight minutes left in the game and would have had an open shot in front of a cluster of defenders, but he was called offsides.
With around five minutes left in the match, Scotland’s Adolfo Duran had a chance to score on a breakaway. But his shot from outside of the box was blocked by Richmond’s goalkeeper.
The Scots had a final chance to tie the game after a tackle at midfield by Jordan Stone with less than one minute on the clock. Stone launched the ball into the Scots’ attacking third, but the Raiders were able to prevent their rivals from scoring.
Richmond took an early 2-0 lead on goals by Lee Hayden and Noah Jordan in the first half.
Starting goalkeeper Blake Wood was out with an injury, but the Scots got 13 saves from their backup.
“I saw Gavin over the summer,” Dickerson said. “. … I saw how well he was doing over the summer, and I knew I got myself a good backup for sure. I don’t have to worry if Blake does get hurt at any time.”
Scotland’s next game is at home against Jack Britt on Monday night. Richmond will play at Lee County on Thursday night.
