Another strong year for Richmond

For the first few minutes of Saturday morning’s Class D state championship soccer game, it looked as if Richmond was in over its head. Eastern Maine champ Bangor Christian controlled play with short passes and generated some good scoring chances while the Bobcats looked a little nervous. They settled down in the second half, though, and carried most of the play, much like the Patriots did in the first half with short accurate passing. Unfortunately for the Bobcats and their fans they lost 2-1.
Probably the biggest play of the half was when Richmond was awarded a penalty kick midway through the second half. Following a corner kick, a scrum ensued in front of the goal and the ball was headed for the BC net. Defender Nate Fowler slapped it away as he was standing on the goal line and was given a red card. Some of the Richmond players and coaches thought the ball was over the goal line when Fowler hit it and felt it should have counted as a goal. Instead, the Bobcats were given a penalty kick, one taken by Joey Scribellito and stopped by Patriots keeper Tyler Alexander.
Alexander stationed himself left of center to take away the bottom corner for a right-footed kicker. Scribellito went for it anyway and was stopped in a smart play and a good guess by Alexander.
Playing 10 on 11 for the final 20 minutes, the Bobcats scored with forward Eric Murrin doing the honors on  a  pretty goal. Murrin had a number of quality chances in the game and looked like the best player on the field. Not far behind were Bangor Christian brothers Brad and Brandon Wilcox. Brad, a sophomore, played with a cast on one arm, and was a threat every time he touched the ball while Brandon scored the game-winner on a penalty kick.
The Bobcats did a nice job defending both brothers in the second half, led by junior Tom Carter at midfield.
The game deciding play came when Brandon Wilcox was awarded a penalty kick after being taken down in the box. Richmond sweeper Andrew Rossignol slipped and took him down after Wilcox went by him and was 1 on 1 with Richmond keeper Bruce Carver.
It would have been interesting to see if Carver could make the stop, but it’s tough to fault Rossignol after he knew he was beaten. The Bobcats played well enough to win, but ran into a goalie who was on his game and a bit of bad luck with the penalty kick. The game, in general, was clean and well played and the officials rarely missed any calls.
It was another great year for Richmond soccer marked by spirited unselfish play. Many of the players on the soccer team play basketball, and don’t be surprised to see the Bobcats in a state final there as well.