For the first time in a Central Carolina Conference game, the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team to a trip to Southern Alamance on Monday night.
While they maintained their undefeated record in conference play, they left Hanford Stadium south of happy.
The Red Wolves walked away with a scoreless tie against the Patriots. Cedar Ridge sophomore goalkeeper Erik Galunas came away with nine saves for his first clean sheet of the season. Galunas kept the Patriots from victory in the final minute of regulation. With 15 seconds remaining in regulation, Southern Alamance’s Ricardo Magallanes flicked a shot from 12 yards away that Galunas stretched and deflected over the sideline.
Two 10-minute overtimes didn’t result in a winner, though the Patriots were the aggressors. With 7:10 remaining in the first overtime, Southern’s Curtis Evans struck the pot from 12 yards off a pass from Billy Clark. Cedar Ridge’s best chance in the overtime came with 5:58 remaining in the opening overtime when Edwin Huerta soared through the box for a header off a cross by Jonas Juarez. Huerta’s attempt sailed through the uprights at the overhanging goalposts.
In the second overtime, Galunas turned back a shot by David Alemon from 16 yards, the only shot on net by either team.
“I’m not happy with this tie,” said Cedar Ridge coach Chauncey Brummell. “We’re a talented team, a group of young individuals with skill and talent. They’re a special group this season and I feel that with all the talent and skill that these young men have, they just got to put it together and play like a team. And I didn’t see that. I see a lot of selfish play. I don’t see that togetherness. It’s never a good feeling to walk in and walk away with a tie with you feel like you’re the better team and you should have put it away.”
Cedar Ridge (5-1-2, 1-0-1 in the CCC) is 3-1-2 on the road this season.
In the first half, Cedar Ridge drew a foul , but Banchenko’s free kick from 26 yards sailed over the crossbar. The Patriots best chance to score in the first half came when Clark moved past Cedar Ridge’s left back along the flank into the box, but his shot from a tough angle banked off the side of the net.
The rest of the half consisted of shots from 25 yards or longer that flailed over the nets on both ends.
Cedar Ridge’s Alejandro Macero-Ramos prevenid Southern Alamance’s Alemon from getting a shot off from the box with 35:14 remaining in regulation. Magallanes played a long ball to Alemon, who wound up in a footrace with Cedar Ridge’s center backs with 20:12 remaining, but Galunas raced to the edge of the box to kill the threat.
“Erik stepped up for us in a big way,” Brummell said. “He saved us. Even in the loss to East Chapel Hill, he stepped up for us. I’m proud of him and I think he’s just going to get better for us as a keeper.”
For a team that’s looking to end a seven-year playoff drought, it wasn’t the performance that any of the Red Wolves wanted. With Orange coming up tonight for the first leg of the Hillsborough Derby at Red Wolves Stadium, Brummell wants to see increased focus as the Red Wolves look to end a three-game winless streak to the Panthers.
“I want us to come out and put this game behind us,” Brummell said. “I want to come together and play as a team. I want us to come focused and ready. Orange is a tough opponent. They always are. I know they know how we’ve been doing, so there’s a big reason for them to come out and obviously do well against us. We have something to prove. I don’t want other teams in our conference thinking “Cedar Ridge started 5-0-1. How did that happen?”