Despite defensive tactics, Raiders shut out by Hoke County

Sep. 14—ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior High School varsity boys soccer team knew going in that it would have to play defensively compact against Hoke County Monday night.

"We were going to sit back and kind of keep everything in front of us, which helped us out," said head coach Chris Larsen.

For a half, it worked. The Raiders only conceded two first half goals and with an attacking start to the second half, only needed one goal to tighten up the game.

However, the attacking push opened things up in defense and the Bucks capitalized, adding four more goals in the second half to shut out the Raiders 6-0.

"I thought we played a decent first half, but once we got down that third and fourth (goal), I think the guys' mentality was just kind of over it and they kind of gave up a little bit — that's when they started pouring them on," Larsen said. "It's just one of those nights and we'll have to come back and regroup tomorrow and see if we can go after a win Wednesday night."

The Bucks got their first goal in the 11th minute off a corner kick and their second goal in the 28th minute, both from defender Joseph Buel. On the first, a loose ball off the corner wasn't cleared in the box and Buel directed it through traffic into the net. Then, on the second, he intercepted a Richmond pass, sprinted past two defenders and scored at the near post.

"We didn't hustle like we know that we can," said senior Pedro Molina. "Usually in these games, we come prepared, but I guess not everyone came prepared today. It shows when we don't (come with our A-game."

Hoke County controlled possession of the ball for the majority of the first half and the Raiders didn't record a shot on goal until the final minute of the half. Even when the Raiders regained the ball and tried to counterattack, Hoke's defenders were able to snuff out long pass attempts.

Normally, the Raiders like to play a quick build-up style in attack. Larsen said playing defensively made it more challenging to consistently attack that way.

"I think our targets are a little bit closer and we don't have that movement or as much space to have those poor touches," Larsen said. "If we're a little more compact, their backline normally slides up a little bit and it should give us more room over the top. I asked them to play some balls, but I think we got a little one-sided. It kind of kills you when you ask them to switch the point of attack and they constantly go to one side. It doesn't open things up for you like it should."

The Raiders started to reassert themselves in possession at the start of the second half, as they started seeing more of the ball and created some attacking opportunities.

"Most of our players stopped dribbling as much and we realized that we need to play a little bit more as a team," said senior Pedro Molina. "That makes a big difference in the outcome. Hopefully next game we can get some more passing."

Larsen said they played two forwards at the top of the formation in the second half to try to give themselves a better chance of going at the goal.

But, as they put more numbers into the attack, the compact defense fell apart.

"I guess the guys didn't understand me when I said I still wanted the same defensive scheme with a lot of bodies behind the ball," Larsen said. "I thought maybe we'd let those two guys run free (up top) instead of just one. That opened us up a bit and they capitalized off of it."

The Bucks' second half goals came in the 52nd, 59th, 62nd and 71st minutes (PK) as they got in behind Richmond's defense.

"We'll get back to some fundamentals (Tuesday) and see what happens Wednesday," Larsen said. "Hopefully the guys will start knocking that ball around a little bit more and switching that field. When we do that, I think we'll be alright."

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Reach Neel Madhavan at 910-817-2675 ext. 2751 or [email protected] Follow on Twitter at @NeelMadhavan.