Larsen ‘proud’ of No. 31 Lady Raiders’ efforts in first round playoff exit

RALEIGH — Despite an honest effort and a lights-out performance by junior goalkeeper Quanna Bostic, the Richmond Senior High School girls soccer team saw its season come to an end Monday.

Playing in the opening round of the NCHSAA 4A East state playoffs, the No. 31 Lady Raiders made a quiet exit against No. 2 Millbrook Magnet High School.

Bostic faced an impressive 51 shots and made a more impressive 38 saves, as Richmond fell 6-0 to the Lady Wildcats.

In the opening half, Millbrook faced a stout Richmond defense and a mobile Bostic. The Lady Wildcats got off 22 shots in the opening 40 minutes, but Bostic collected 19 saves to keep it a 1-0 deficit at halftime.

Head coach Chris Larsen told the Lady Raiders that because of the Lady Wildcats’ speed and passing ability the objective was to force as many outside shots as possible.

Center backs Ava Thompson and Samantha Barnes, flanked by outside backs Jentry Denson and Nevaeh Harris, held strong in the first half, making the Lady Wildcats shoot from distance.

In the opening minute, however, a cross into the box was redirected by Katelyn Burnette to put Millbrook up 1-0.

Bostic had two sliding saves against one-on-one situations in the first 15 minutes. While on the ground, she also managed to push the ball out of danger on a shot off the right post from inside 10 yards.

On one of the Lady Wildcats’ six first-half corner kicks, Bostic made a leaping save in the 28th minute. In a two-minute span during the final 10 minutes of the half, she also caught corner kicks from opposite flags in traffic for a save.

Before the break, Bostic stood tall on a close-range dart by Lauren Milne within five yards and redirected another hard shot to keep it a one-goal deficit.

Richmond’s best scoring chance in the first half came courtesy of freshman outside midfielder Colbie Covington, who ripped a shot on frame following a run down the left side in the 33rd minute.

“The girls played pretty well in the first half and kept them at bay,” Larsen said. “We made them shoot from outside the 18-yard box, which really helped us out. We knew tonight would be a challenge and that they are a fundamentally-sound team, but our girls adapted well to that and played 40 minutes of really good soccer.

“I can’t say enough about Quanna’s efforts in goal. She and the defense faced a lot of shots and were able to limit their quality chances. Quanna has been our keeper for three years and she’ve proven again and again that she can stop tough opponents.

“Unfortunately, we came out in the second half and allowed a PK and two more goals in the opening three or four minutes,” he continued. “That got the ball rolling against us, but the girls put up a great fight and let Millbrook know we were here. I’m proud of the way the girls fought all 80 minutes.”

A couple of unlucky plays for Richmond led to three goals for the Lady Wildcats (19-0-2) through the opening 3:07 of the second half.

Jordan Davis scored a pair of goals, both a result of corner kicks, which surrounded a penalty kick goal by Burnette. The PK was awarded after a foul in the box.

Leading 4-0, Millbrook used tallies from Gabrielle Sadosky and Annaka Boyd in the 49th and 54th minutes for its final two goals.

Bostic made a charge to grab a bouncing ball near the top of the 18-yard box, but it came loose and Sadosky managed to score. Boyd’s goal was a deflection that arced its way into the net from an odd angle.

Sophomore outside midfielder Makayla Brown, who scored two goals two matches ago, put a shot just over the crossbar along the right third in the 62nd minute.

Making a stellar defensive play in the 66th minute, senior center midfielder Gabby Lutz hustled to pick up Bostic after an initial save attempt. With the shot trickling toward the open net, Lutz made a sweeping clear along the goal mouth to force a corner kick.

Larsen used the final part of the second half to call off senior players one last time. Bostic made several quality saves in the closing minutes.

“We’ve got some good players coming back next year, a solid group of returners,” Larsen closed. “We’re losing a quality group of seniors, which for many of the girls, were three or four-year players.

“Hopefully we can pick back up where we’ve left off after making the playoffs. Now we have to see if we can take on the challenge of winning a few more matches in the regular season and not play one of the top seeds. There is room for improvement, but we’ll keep working to get better.”

The No. 31 Lady Raiders finished the 2024 campaign with a 9-13-3 overall record and returned to the postseason for the first time since 2021.

Within the Sandhills Athletic Conference, Richmond finished fourth with a 4-7-1 mark.

Leading the team in goals was senior Allie Rodgers, who finished with 17 goals. Two freshmen, Covington and Mariana Gonzalez, were tied for second with five goals apiece.

Monday’s playoff contest was the final match for seniors Lutz, Rodgers, Emma Altman, Kaleigh Cloninger, Jenna Gardner and Evie Howell.

The Richmond Observer will publish the All-Sandhills Athletic Conference team when it’s made available.

Sports editor’s note: The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Richmond’s playoff game Tuesday.