RICHMOND, Maine — Try this for a tough couple days.
The Richmond High School girls soccer team departed Friday at 7 a.m., rode a bus two hours, took a ferry in rough waters to Vinalhaven, played a game, re-boarded the ferry for a second bumpy ride, rode the bus another two hours home, arriving back in Richmond at 6 p.m.
Oh, by the way, the Bobcats had a home game against Searsport on Saturday morning at 11
The amazing thing is, despite a slow start on Saturday, the Bobcats still found a way, topping Searsport, 4-0, in a blustery, cool Class D South contest.
Richmond finished its hectic two-day schedule with a 10-1 mark and sits atop the Class D South Heal Point Standings, while the Vikings (7-4) suffered their second four-goal setback against the Bobcats this year.
With Richmond playing into the cool wind in the first half, it took some time for the Bobcats to warm to the task.
“There was a little bit of a hangover from yesterday,” said Richmond coach Troy Kendrick. “Searsport has some kids up front that are dangerous with some good team speed. They tried to spread us out a little bit today. I will never look by that team.”
The game was scoreless over the first 17 minutes, with neither team registering a shot. But, Richmond broke through as Meranda Martin took a pass from Autumn Acord and slipped a shot inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.
“We had a hard day yesterday, going up to Vinalhaven in that weather, then come here and have the wind in our faces for the first half,” said Martin.
Richmond outshot Searsport 6-0 in the opening frame.
“The wind today was a huge factor,” said Searsport coach R.J. Robertson. “. When they chose the wind for the second half, we knew it would be tough. We tried some things, playing five back in the second half. But, if you guard one of them, the others will get you.”
Richmond controlled the majority of the second frame. Behind the front line of Kelsea Anair, Destiny Anair and Acord, along with midfielders Martin, Molly Meagher and Taylor Paulison, the Bobcats pressed the Searsport defense of Lilah Chaar, Karyn Mylen and Sammy Hamblen.
Acord doubled Richmond’s lead 4:25 into the second half off a pass from Kelsea Anair, and Acord made it 3-0 on a setup from Martin seven minutes later.
Martin finished off the scoring with 21:25 remaining with an unassisted goal.
“We have several girls who can put a shot into the net, which makes us a dangerous team,” said Martin.
Robertson feels his young team is getting closer to Richmond’s level.
“The girls are getting a little bit more confident against Richmond,” he said.
“We know that we will have to see them in the playoffs.”
Richmond finished with a 24-3 shot advantage. Searsport goaltender Brooklynn Alberts had eight saves, with Bobcat netminder Sydney Tilton having to make just one.