When August practice started for the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team, the goal was to make the state playoffs.
It was a common refrain. The Red Wolves haven’t been since 2016 when current Chicago Bears punter Trenton Gill played for the Red Wolves, coached by Chris Walker.
Nonetheless, it felt like a lofty goal after the Red Wolves finished 5-15-1 last year.
Then the Red Wolves started 2023 with six wins in its opening nine games. Needless to say, their goals got bigger.
Tonight (Monday), the Red Wolves will host a state playoff game inside Red Wolves Stadium for the first time since 2015.
The Red Wolves received a #14 seed for the 3A State Playoffs. They will host Southern Lee, the #19 seed from the 4A/3A Sandhills Conference tonight at 6PM.
Along the way, the Orange men’s soccer team has made its own history. The Panthers also made the field of 64 for the 3A State Tournament, receiving a #26 seed. The Panthers will journey to Sanford tonight to face Lee County, the champions of the Sandhills Conference.
It’s the first time in the 35-year history of the program that Orange (8-7-3) has made the state playoffs in back-to-back years. Orange sewed up its spot in the state playoffs with a 2-0 victory over Eastern Alamance last week in Mebane. Traver Bruhns, in his final regular season game, scored two goals. It was the first brace of his high school career.
Orange goalkeeper Finn Kelly earned the clean sheet. The winner of Lee County/Orange will face either Western Alamance or Walter Williams in the second round.
It’s a bittersweet draw for Cedar Ridge, who finished the regular season 12-4-3. While they’re hosting a state playoff game, they nearly made history by winning the Central Carolina Conference championship. It would have been the first men’s soccer championship in school history. Two weeks ago, the Red Wolves played to a scoreless tie at Western Alamance. They maintained the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Warriors and were two wins away from taking the crown. But on October 18, the Red Wolves lost to Walter Williams 1-0 on a goal by Anderson Aguilera with 6:42 remaining in regulation. Western Alamance closed with decisive wins over Person and Southern Alamance to take the conference crown.
“I couldn’t imagine that it would have gone that way this year,” said Cedar Ridge coach Chancey Brummell. “Last year was a good group of kids. I don’t think they played as a team and it showed. I thought going into this year we were going to be competitive. But if you had asked me ‘Coach, would Cedar Ridge be in contention to win the conference?’ I would have told you no. I didn’t think we were going to be up there with the likes of a Western (Alamance) and a Williams.”
If Cedar Ridge’s season could be defined in one imagine, it would be Salomon Hernandez running across the field after scoring on a header against Western Alamance with 4:17 remaining in regulation. Goalkeeper Erik Galunas would earn the clean sheet as the Red Wolves defeated the Warriors 1-0 on September 20.
“When we won the first few games, I knew then we were going to become something special,” Brummells said. “It was disappointing to come up short against Williams last week. But compared to where we were last year, I will take that any day. It’s impressive not just for the players, but I think for the program and the school. It’s shows other players that Cedar Ridge soccer is going somewhere.”
It’s Cedar Ridge’s first trip to the 3A State Playoffs since 2016, when they lost to Corinth-Holders 1-0 in the opening round. The Red Wolves were an 11-seed. Back then, the 3A State Tournament was a 32-team tournament.
The last time Cedar Ridge hosted a state playoff game inside Red Wolves Stadium, it was 2015. They defeated Northwood 2-0.