The Richmond Hill High School boys and girls soccer teams have started their Region 3-AAA schedule in dominating fashion over the weekend. Thomson and West Laurens proved to be little competition to the Wildcats, with big wins for Richmond Hill in all four games.
The RHHS boys (3-1, 2-0) defeated Thomson 8-0 on Friday.
“I was especially happy with how well my young guys played once they were in the game,” said Coach Robbie Flanders Thomson was very aggressive so we had to get rid of the ball quicker and make quicker decisions and everybody did well with that in the second half.”
On Saturday, the Wildcats beat West Laurens 5-0. Flanders said it wasn’t a stellar game for the ‘Cats, but a valuable win nonetheless.
“We had numerous scoring opportunities to score and did well by getting five,” Flanders said. “You could tell that my guys were getting frustrated by the missed opportunities, but I’m proud of them by the way they continued to fight until the end and was able to conserve the shutout.”
Flanders said his team has made a goal to finish the region undefeated for the third year in a row and to do it without being scored on.
“We came close to that goal three seasons ago, but gave up a penalty kick goal with two minutes left in the last region game of the year against Liberty,” Flanders said. “It’s a tough goal, but it’s a legacy these seniors want to leave behind.”
The Lady Wildcats (3-1, 2-0) beat Thomson 9-1 on Friday. Coach Steve Kollman started the game out with the younger players on the roster, which proved to be a positive move.
Sarah Goolsby led with 4 goals, followed by Lindsey Vasher with 2. Kayla Taylor, Kaitlyn Taylor and Julia Marcotte scored one goal each. Vasher led in assists.
The following day, RHHS beat West Laurens 9-0.
“This was the first long bus trip for our younger players, and we were sluggish during warm-ups and for the first 20 minutes of the game,” Kollman said. “We made four tactical changes during that first 20 minutes to counter their strengths. Once we scored the first goal, we had control from then on.”
Goolsby led with 3 goals, followed by Marjan Mustafa and Lisa Barnes with 2 each. Vasher and Morgan Cribbs scored one goal each. Vasher had 5 assists while Gaby Parker had 3 saves.