There’s a section of Orange High students who watched home soccer matches from the beds of their trucks across from Orange Middle School’s baseball/softball field.
Possibly for the first-time ever, they scaled the fence to rush the field on Wednesday night as the buzzer sounded to conclude Orange’s 3-1 win over Cedar Ridge.
As a noisy group of fans departed for the parking lot afterwards, one Orange supporter griped about the fans rushing the pitch, wishing they had acted like they had been there before.
Maybe so, but the fact of the matter is none of the Orange players had been there before. It was the Panthers’ first win over Cedar Ridge since October 8, 2018, when many of the 13 seniors currently on the Orange roster were in middle school.
Orange (2-5, 1-1 in the Central Carolina Conference) earned its first home win of the season in front of a spirited and large crowd representing both schools. After the final buzzer, an Orange student playfully rushed across to the Cedar Ridge student section on the opposite grandstand to hand them a gold, inflatable ballon shaped like an “L” for loss. Fortunately, it was received in good nature.
Orange, which had only scored three goals in its first six games, doubled that total agains the Red Wolves. The Panthers surprisingly dominated possession in the first half after Cedar Ridge’s Issac Anderson scored the opening goal off a corner kick in the fifth minute.
“That’s what we expect,” said Orange coach Palmer Bowman said. “We were disappointed that we got down in that situation and we expected to control possession, create and move forward. That’s what we did.”
With Cedar Ridge ahead 1-0, the Panthers fired from all directions to keep Red Wolves freshman goalkeeper Erik Galunas busy. With 27:18 remaining in the first half, Galunas made a diving save on a shot from 23 yards by Orange senior Bryan Membreno. Afterwards, Galunas came up limping.
The Panthers continued to pour on the pressure until senior Tucker Gaddy scored off a rebound on a corner kick. Tucker fired it into the top right corner of the net from 22 yards away for the equalizer, right in front of the Truck Bed Rowdies, who tested the shocks on their vehicles by jumping up and down.
The Orange defense limited Cedar Ridge’s attack to a handful of counters for the remainder of the half. The Red Wolves best chance came when Chris Mendez, who has two hat tricks this season, whistled a line drive past Orange goalkeeper Connor McMurtry that narrowly cleared the crossbar.
“I think we had some difficulties trying to gain possession, at times,” said Cedar Ridge coach Chauncey Brummell. “I think we just didn’t put it together. I think all the pieces are there, we just couldn’t find the magic to put it all together.”
After Orange’s Dylan Silverman nearly notched a second Panther tally following a steal and shot that barely inched over the goal, junior Enzo Bruhns got the game-winner off a pass from Ivan Guzman Ruiz, who stole the ball away at midfield with 10:02 remaining in the first half.
“He’s just a high energy guy,” Bowman said about Bruhns. “We put him in there and told him to go chase the ball. He did and he was able to convert.”
With 38:43 remaining in the second half, Orange junior Ryker Stein gained possession from 12 yards away and scored his first goal of the season, vaulting the Panthers ahead 3-1. The rally started with a shot by Membreno that rebounded off a Red Wolves defender, was followed by another attempt from Tyler Mann.
The Red Wolves did have various chances throughout the second half. Shortly after Stein’s goal, Mendez took a lead pass from Justin Murillo in an attempt to narrow the deficit. Orange senior centerback Darius Corbett thwarted the chance by winning a foot race and kicking it to McMurtry.
Orange wingback Cooper Zinn headed a ball off the goal line following another shot by Mendez from a corner kick by Mendez with 18:41 remaining.
“Orange had a lot of intensity,” Brummell said. “Their fans helped out a lot and gave them a lot of support. That can be a game changer. Good for them. They played well and executed when we fell short.”
Orange, who held defending 3A State Champion Western Alamance in check offensively last week in a 2-1 loss in Hillsborough, will look to continue its momentum in Roxboro against Person on Monday.
“There’s still a lot of work to do,” Bowman said. “But it’s starting to trend in the right direction.”