During the past decade, the Greenville-Richmond boys high school soccer rivalry has grown by leaps and bounds.

Gone are the days when the spirited, but unskilled Lakers gave the Bobcats a fight, with ejections and yellow cards often issued, before Richmond blew them away with another win … or advanced to three consecutive State Class D title games with victories over their rivals.

Greenville, after winning the Western Maine Class D title with a 1-0 victory against Richmond last season, entered this year as the East- West Conference favorites behind All-Conference Player of the Year Tristan Richards.

Meeting No. 1 of at least two this season (but don’t bet against a third in the Western D title game for the fifth straight season) was Tuesday, and Richards showed why he is arguably the best player in the conference again this year, scoring three goals in a 3-1 victory over Richmond, which suffered its first loss (3- 1) of the season with a visit to Rangeley slated for Friday.

“He is a player, the reason he was the conference’s Player of the Year last year,” said Richmond coach Joe Scribellito of Richards. “Every now and then, you have a player on a team like him, and he took advantage of a couple nice bounces to score.”

“It gets rough against them, two competitive teams going at it, and we always know it is going to be a fight,” said Richards. “I remember watching Richmond beat us 9-0. Those were frustrating days. But, now it’s competitive.”

A big goal

Leading just 2-1 in the second half after Richmond’s Eddie Stewart beat Greenville netminder Cory Henderson (12 saves), Richards scored moments after the Bobcats nearly tied the game.

“A 2-1 game is close, and if they get another one their momentum carries them to a possible win, but when I scored that third one that put them down a little bit and made it harder for them to come back,” said Richards. “It was scary. They are fast and have a really good defense. Their forwards are good and they control the ball and pass really well.”

“There is a lot of heart on this team, and there are a lot of successes that we can build on from this effort,” said Scribellito. “We have to find a way to eliminate the mistakes because each one we made, Greenville put the ball into the net.

Greenville jumped on top 2- 0 in the first half. Richards fought his way through three Richmond defenders, maintaining possession the entire time, before slipping a shot past Bobcats netminder Dustin Sullivan.

Richards doubled the lead with nine minutes left until halftime, finishing off a rebound of a Henry Hersey shot.

Stewart, who transferred to Richmond for his senior year after starring at Wiscasset, made it a game 10 minutes into the second half. He gathered a pass from Randy Moody, switched from his left foot to his right and launched a rising shot high inside the far post to get the Bobcats to 2-1.

“This rivalry is like Wiscasset Boothbay,” said Stewart, who nearly tied the game seconds later as his shot whistled inches above the cross bar. “I liked playing in this game. If we could have tied the game, it would have been a lot more intense. We have to keep the intensity up the entire game the next time we play them, and I think it will work out.”

After Greenville put the ball back into play, defenseman Jack Mason chipped a long shot that Sullivan punched away from his goal. But, Richards brought the ball down to his foot and his shot sailed high into the net to restore the Lakers’ twogoal advantage.

Richmond refused to quit, with Moody sending a hard shot off the post. The Bobcats also had a potential goal by Sam Lorbeski waved off due to an offsides call with 12 minutes remaining.

On the other end, Sullivan was tough, stopping Richards three times from point-blank range to finish with 17 saves.

“Dustin was superb in goal for us, but you can only stop so many shots,” said Scribellito, who praised the work of Greenville coach Jef f Richards. “Jeff is a soccer coach, someone who cares about the game and learns the game.

“Greenville is not going to play like they used to. They play soccer and it’s going to be a soccer match. I like that part of this rivalry, and it is nice to coach against a guy who knows the sport.”

Greenville finished with a slight 28-26 shot advantage, but dominated corner kicks to the tune of 7-0.

Lorbeski, Xavier Trask and Sean Bernier played solid on defense for the Bobcats.

Greenville 3, Richmond 1

At Richmond High School
Greenville — 2 1 — 3
Richmond — 0 1 — 1
Goals — (G) Tristan Richards 3; (R)
Eddie Stewart.
Assists — (G) Henry Hersey; (R) Randy
Moody.
Shots — Greenville, 28-26.
Saves — (G) Cory Henderson 12; (R)
Dustin Sullivan 17.
Corner kicks — Greenville, 7-0.
Records — Greenville 3-0, Richmond 3-
1.
Next for the Bobcats — Friday at Rangeley, 4 p.m.