Since legendary English soccer manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Manchester United hasn’t resembled the same team that won 13 Premier League championships in 20 years.
But they’re still Manchester United in England, and any win by a visiting club in Old Trafford Stadium is one worth savoring for years on end.
Closer to home, the Chapel Hill Tigers won back-to-back 3A State Championships in 2017 and 2018. This year with a younger team, they’re 7-6-3 and in 3rd place in the DAC-VII.
But they’re still Chapel Hill, a team that defeated Orange seven straight times going into Thursday night. The fact Orange went into Chapel Hill Soccer Stadium and came away with a 3-2 victory was memorable.
How they did it was incredible.
The Panthers played the final 25 minutes with only ten men after goalkeeper Connor McMurtry received a red card for diving after a loose ball on a breakaway, but hit a Chapel Hill player instead. At the time, Orange led 1-0, but the Tigers evened the match on the subsequent penalty kick. Minutes later, Chapel Hill took the lead.
It appeared the Tigers were headed towards its eighth straight win for the Panthers since they had an 11-on-10 man advantage. As backup goalkeeper Finn Kelly replaced McMurtry, Orange got the equalizing goal from Cooper Zinn to even the match 2-2 with 9:24 remaining. The goal was set up with senior centerback Darius Corbett played the ball from midfield to the left side of the field. Zinn ran down the flank and flicked it along the left post to even the game.
Kelly kept the match tied with some remarkable saves for the Panthers. With 35 seconds remaining, junior Emmanuel Del Cruz scored the game-winning goal in front of a stunned Tiger crowd. The Panthers would hold on for a 3-2 result, its third win in four days.
Del Cruz, in his first year on the varsity, earned his third goal of the season.
It was Orange’s first win over Chapel Hill in men’s soccer since September 20, 2017.
The victory is a huge boost for the Panthers hopes of reaching the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2016. Going into Thursday’s match, Orange was #22 in the 3A East Regional rankings by MaxPreps. They have risen four spots over the past week.
On Wednesday, the Panthers (9-8, 5-4 in the Central Carolina Conference) cruised to a 6-0 win over Person at Orange Soccer Park. Mann, who leads Orange with nine goals in 2022, notched two goals. It was his fourth brace of the season. Mann now has a four-game goal scoring streak.
Corbett added another goal for the Panthers. Ryker Stein, Mil Cruz, and senior Ivan Guzman all scored for the Panthers to complete a season sweep of the Rockets. Senior Dylan Silverman added an assist, as did sophomore Eben Petrides.
Orange will continue its pursuit of a birth in the 3A State Playoffs with a road trip to Northwood on Monday night in Pittsboro.