There’s something that feels right about soccer in downtown Durham.
In the distance beyond the scoreboard at venerable Durham School of the Arts, there’s the Durham skyline. The storied Durham Mutual Life building can be seen by all visitors to Bulldog Stadium. It stands alongside the historic Chesterfield Building, a reminder when Durham was truly a tobacco town with the piercing smell lingered throughout town at the end of a summer days.
That’s where the Orange men’s soccer team finally started its season on Thursday night. Two seniors hooked up on a free kick for the game-winning goal.
Emmanuel Mil Cruz headed in a free kick supplied by senior Traver Bruhns with 29:54 remaining in regulation. The Panthers midfield, which was outplayed for much of the first half, largely controlled possession for the remainder of the night as Orange rode out a 2-1 victory over the Bulldogs.
Senior goalkeeper Finn Kelly earned the victory for Orange, who lost 13 seniors from the 2022 team that reached the 3A State Playoffs.
“We were more aggressive in the second half,” said Orange coach Palmer Bowman. “(DSA) Coach (Amy) Green does a great job. We knew #7 (Declan Fahley) and #9 (Ryan Rosales) were some great players. We knew we had to clean it up or they were going to punish us. We were lucky they didn’t put more on us in the first half.”
After Bruhns scored the opening goal for Orange, DSA’s Rosales notched the equalizer 0ff a corner kick. Rosales nearly added a second when he headed the ball past Kelly at the top of the box. Orange centerback Jay Parker rushed over to clear the ball off the line to keep the game tied at halftime.
After Kelly caught a Bulldog shot from distance to begin the second half, the Panthers controlled possession for the next half-hour. Joseph Lopez was tripped along the right sideline to set up a free kick. Bruhns played it to the six-yard box, where Mil Cruz soared above everyone and made solid contact with the corner of his head to tuck the ball into the roof of the net.
“Emmanuel is the workhorse for us,” Bowman said. “He and Traver are out wide for us. We ask them to do a lot of running and we ask a lot of them. But we ask them that because we know that they can do it.”
As the sun faded and the heat dissipated, Orange refused to allow a DSA counter. The Panthers piled on chance after chance in an attempt to gain a third goal. Angel Chavez attempted a header on another Orange corner, but it sailed over the crossbar. A long ball by Parker was run down by Bruhns, whose attempt went wide. Daniel Romero took a corner and fired a shot inside the six-yard box, but it was captured by DSA goalkeeper Joseph Morgado. Mil Cruz nearly earned a brace with a shot off a dead sprint that Morgado’s got a fingernail on to send it over the end line. Dallas Edwards hit the post off a corner kick with 5:12 remaining.
The Bulldogs best attempt came with 7:15 remaining when Romero nearly chased down a long ball, but Dallas Johnson cleared it away to nullify a potential game-tying goal.
It was the the first time since 2019 that Orange won its season opener. The Panthers will play its home opener against Southern Durham on Monday night.
Cedar Ridge 4, Voyager Aacdemy 1:
The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team is 2-0 for the first time since 2019. The Red Wolves earned a road win at Voyager Academy on Thursday night.
Senior Captain Illiah Babchenko, who score the game-winning goal against Eno River Academy on Monday night, scored off a penalty kick. Andy Tarija scored his second goal of the season. Jonam Juarez and Abazar Babiker also notched goals for the Red Wolves.
Gael Antunez-Nunez had two assists. He had helpers on the goals by Tarija and Juarez. Junior Dominic McNerney assisted on Abazar’s goal.
Cedar Ridge will continues its four-game road trip against Vance County on Monday night.