RICHMOND — Untested and undeterred, the champs are moving on.
The Richmond High School girls soccer team wasted little time putting away Rangeley in a Western D semifinal game Friday, scoring in the opening minute and cruising to a 6-0 victory before about 150 bundled-up fans.
Additional Photos
Danica Hurley scored her 100th career goal, and Noell Acord added a pair to lead top-seeded Richmond (13-1-0).
Richmond, the defending Class D state champs, will host No. 2 Greenville (11-4-0) in a regional final Wednesday at a time to be determined.
“To get one early, it got us going,” said Hurley, a senior captain who has 34 goals this season. “I was worried we would come out lackadaisical.”
There was nothing lax about the Bobcats’ performance Friday.
Richmond scored early, often and in bunches to overwhelm No. 4 Rangeley (4-7-2) for the third time this fall.
Sadie Gosse, Amber Loon and Saige Strout also scored for Richmond. Keeper Taylor Bean stopped 16 shots for the Lakers, who were held to just one shot.
“One of our strengths is scoring early,” Acord said. “It helped us to relax.”
Acord and the Bobcats — who average 5.8 goals a game — struck just 46 seconds into the game. She took a nice crossing pass from Hurley and then deposited it past Bean for a 1-0 lead.
“It went off my shinguard,” Acord said. “It’s nice having (Hurley) serving the ball.”
Added Richmond coach Troy Kendrick: “It’s always nice when you can punch one in early. It takes the butterflies away. It takes the edge off.”
Hurley made it 2-0 when she beat a few defenders up the middle and fired a low shot just inside the far corner with 15:33 left in the opening half. It was the 100th of her career. She was presented the ball after the game.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” she said. “I didn’t think much about it, but I’m proud I could do it.”
Richmond would score two more goals in a three-minute span to take a 4-0 lead into halftime.
“It’s nice when they come in spurts,” Kendrick said.
Gosse staked Richmond to a 5-0 lead when she converted a direct kick from about 30 yards out with 30:59 left in regulation. Loon capped the scoring with 9:55 remaining.
“It’s difficult because we knew the two times we played them before we dominated,” said Hurley, whose team outscored Rangeley 16-1 this season. “So we knew we had to be focused, and I think we were. We know that everyone is talking how they want to beat Richmond. There is nothing harder than repeating as state champs, so we know we have to come out ready.”
Bill Stewart – 621-5640
bstewart@centralmaine.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.