Everything Orange men’s soccer has ever earned, they’ve gotten the hard way.
The program stated in 1987 under head coach Pat Todd in the massive shadow of Chapel Hill High School, which won a state championship in 1983 when the word “soccer” was more of a stigma within the sports community.
Chapel Hill has three state championships. Orange has one lifetime win in the state playoffs.
After years of playing second, third, or fourth fiddle among Orange County teams, the Panthers will reach a new milestone tonight (Saturday). They will host a game in the state playoffs for the first time ever.
Orange earned a 14th-seed in the 3A State Playoffs when bracketing was released on Thursday by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. The Panthers will face Swansboro at Orange Soccer Field tonight at 6PM.
Orange has tied a school record with 15 wins this year, starting with its first-ever victory over Carrboro back in August. They wound up with an automatic bid to the state playoffs after finishing 2nd in the Central Conference behind Western Alamance, which is seeded #2 in the 3A East Region.
“It’s a testament to all the guys who have come through the program over the years to help it get to this point,” said Orange men’s soccer coach Palmer Bowman. “At the same time, that’s great and we appreciate that. But we want to make some noise and we got a job to do. Hopefully, we’re focused on that.”
Swansboro, from the Coastal Conference, will arrive in Hillsborough with an 11-8-4 mark. The Pirates played six consecutive overtime games in the month of October, including a scoreless tie against Coastal Conference champions Croatan. Swansboro defeated Croatan on October 1, but the Pirates enter the playoffs on a three-game losing streak.
“Swansboro is good,” Bowman said after practice on Friday. “Those coastal teams just beat each other up. We know we’re going to have our hands full tomorrow.”
After years of playing inside cavernous Auman Stadium, Orange has had its own soccer park for over a decade. The capacity of two grandstands creates a loud and often hectic environment where dedicated fans bring their own lawn chairs to sit right along the edge of the sidelines, often fielding errant passes that go out of play. For big games, Orange students will back their trucks right along the edge of the end zone fence behind the north end goalkeeper to watch the action, hence their fan section nickname “The Truck Bed Rowdies.”
Orange is 9-1 at home this year.
“We’ve had a huge home field advantage over the years,” Bowman said. “We’ve got a strong contingent of fans and family that really love these guys. They make a lot of sacrifices to come out and watch us.”
When workouts started in August, Bowman had an experienced team that included senior captains Joseph Lopez, Eben Petrides and Issac Gallegos. There was one major hole: at goalkeeper.
After Finn Kelly graduated last June, Petrides was the last goalkeeper remaining on the roster. But he moved to centerback. In tryouts, sophomore Hector Garrido stood out, despite the fact that he had never played any organized soccer.
Garrido, who started as a freshman for the Orange varsity men’s basketball team last year, has come through with seven clean sheets this season. His defensive back line of Petrides, Jay Parker, Dallas Johnson and Logan Edwards has provided ample defensive support to hold 13 opponents to one goal or less.
“It’s a strong group of guys,” Bowman said. “We just always preach about what’s in front of us and they’ve taken it one game at a time.”
Junior Yurem Tapia Mendez has scored 18 goals, including the game-winner in the season opener against Carrboro. It’s the most goals scored in one season by an Orange player since Jamar Davis, who ran track at N.C. State, scored 19 goals in the 2017-2018 season.
Senior co-Captain Joseph Lopez scored the game-winning goal against Walter Williams on October 9, which triggered a seven-game winning streak that concluded the regular season. Daniel Romero Toledeo has scored seven goals for the Panthers.
Orange’s only state playoff win came in 2017 at Jacksonville.