Cedar Ridge Women’s Soccer

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Five weeks of relentless travel to start the season has ended–at least for one night–for the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team.

The track around Red Wolves Stadium was one of many renovation projects around Cedar Ridge and Orange High Schools this summer. It kept Cedar Ridge men’s soccer on the road for its opening seven games, where they journeyed from Henderson to Cary to Efland.

On Monday night, they finally played its first home game and made the wait worth their while.

Senior Salomon Hernandez scored two goals while Rodrigo Arellano added two goals and two assists as the Red Wolves defeated Eastern Alamance 9-0 in Hillsborough. Alex Rosales, Miko James, Arturo Hernandez and Sawyer Smith added goals as the Red Wolves improved to 3-3-2 overall while staying in first place in the Central Conference with a 2-0 mark.

“It was worth the wait, oh my gosh,” Cedar Ridge coach Chauncey Brummell, who took the Red Wolves to a second-place finish in the Central Conference last year. “Anytime you have a young team, it’s going to take them some time to gel and learn how to work together as a team. We’re not the only young team in the conference so there’s really no excuse.”

Junior Erik Galunas earned the victory in net as he played in the opening 40 minutes. Senior Ben Miller started the second half and played the final 17 minutes until the final goal of the game scored by Arellano, who fired it in from 20 yards off a free kick.

Salomon Hernandez, who battled his way back from injury, scored the opening goal off a corner kick fired in by James with 21:27 remaining in the first half. Rosales added insurance when Arellano fired a shot from 28 yards, which was knocked down by an Eagles defender. Rosales took possession off the rebound, dribbled into the penalty area and fired it in from eleven yards along the near post.

Arturo Hernandez added a third goal with 9:15 remaining in the first half when he collected a pass from Arellano and shot it in from 12 yards away.

Arellano, a freshman, turned 14 on Monday.

Cedar Ridge’s home stand will be short-lived. On Wednesday, they will travel to Elon to face Western Alamance at Primm Stadium. The Warriors are atop the Central Conference after former Red Wolf Dominic McNerney, who led Cedar Ridge in scoring last year, transferred to Western Alamance last month.

“The constant travel has been tough,” Brummell said. “Being on the bus for 45 minutes to one hour is a lot. For me, as an adult, it’s a lot. I can only imagine what it’s like for those kids not being able to play a home game for a month. To finally play on their home field and have a decent crowd tonight, it was great for the kids. And to get a win was even better.”

The Red Wolves will host Walter Williams next Monday.

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Orange 9, Person 0: Another multigoal game from junior Yurem Tapia Mendez led Orange to a 9-0 victory at Rockets Stadium in Roxboro on Monday night. Mendez finished with two goals, his four multi-goal games this season as the Panthers improved to 7-3 overall, 2-1 in the Central Conference. Mendez has eleven goals overall.

Mendez scored the opening goal. Junior Logan Edwards added two goals, the first two of his varsity career. Edwards’ first tally of the night gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead. Sophomore Brendan McDonald also had a brace, including the ninth goal that ended the game in the second half. McDonald now has three goals this season.

Carson Condon and Demetrius Holmes each had goals in the first half as Orange took a 5-0 lead to halftime. Kace McAuley also scored for the Panthers.

Orange will host Southern Alamance in Hillsborough on Wednesday night.

Ivy Garner: The North Carolina Courage’s U-23 team won the USL W League championship at the WRAL Soccer Complex in Cary last month. Garner, who played soccer and tennis at Cedar Ridge her freshman year in 2018-2019 before she transferred to Eno River Academy, assisted on the game-winning goal in the championship game against the Colorado Storm on July 20. Garner sent a crossing pass to Macey Bader in the 66th minute. Garner, who is entering her junior year at Liberty University, scored seven goals in 15 games with the Courage this season. North Carolina went undefeated in 12 matches, finishing with an 11-0-1 record to win the Southeast Division championship The Courage U-23 squad reached the USL W League championship game in 2023, as well, falling to Indy XI in the final. Garner will return to action when Liberty travels to High Point on August 15.

Mia Davidson: A summer that started in Japan, continued to Italy will end in Rosemont, Illinois for Davidson. Davidson earned the silver medal for the United States softball team in the World Baseball Softball Coalition Women’s Softball World Cup in Castions di Strada Italy. The American romped through group play, winning its first six games by a combined margin of 32-4. In the Gold Medal game, Japan defeated the U.S. 6-1, scoring six unanswered runs. Earlier in the tournament, the Americans blanked Japan 2-0. Davidson played in two games during the World Cup. Last weekend, Davidson started her third season with Athletes Unlimited. She suited up for Team Alexander for three games at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, IL. For the week, Davidson finished with 28 points in Athletes Unlimited unique system where players earned individual points based on their performance. Team Alexander dropped all three of its games. Davidson went 2-for-8 and set a new league record for career hit by pitches. This weekend, Davidson will play for Team Skylar Wallace after being selected in the eighth round of this week’s draft.

Bryse Wilson: Going into Friday, the Milwaukee Brewers lead the St. Louis Cardinals by five-and-a-half games in the National League Central. Wilson continues to work middle relief. On Tuesday, Wilson threw two innings and allowed four hits with one walk and three strikeouts in a 5-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves at American Family Field. Wilson didn’t allow any runs. On Monday, Wilson threw the ninth inning in a 8-3 win over Atlanta. He allowed one solo home run from Sean Murphy.

Ryan Hench: The Burlington Sock Puppets of the Appalachian League ended its season in the Eastern Division Championship game on Thursday night. The Danville Otterbots defeated the Sock Puppets with a walkoff double to win 3-2 at American Legion Field. Hench, who redshirted for North Carolina as a freshman last spring, went 2-3 with a 5.71 ERA for Burlington this summer. In eight games, Hench struck out 41 and walked 21. In his final appearance of the regular season, Hench struck out eight over four innings in a start against the Johnson City Doughboys. He allowed four runs off seven hits in a no-decision. Burlington reached the Appalachian League playoffs for the second straight year after finishing 26-22, good enough for second place in the Eastern Division, five games behind Danville.

Payton Wilson: After being selected in the third round of April’s NFL Draft, Wilson will make his unofficial debut with the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Houston Texans next Friday at Acrisure Stadium. It will be Pittsburgh’s preseason opener.

Trenton Gill: After being released by the Chicago Bears last spring, Gill will make his debut for the Denver Broncos on August 11 against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Gill will try to win the starting job from veteran Riley Dixon, who was signed by the Broncos in 2023 after a season with the Los Angeles Rams. Gill is the first Cedar Ridge Red Wolf to play in the NFL.

There have already been plenty of remarkable achievements for the Cedar Ridge women’s soccer team this year.

They now have 14 wins, more than the 2018 squad that had freshman Ivy Garner, who now plays at Liberty University.

On Monday night, the Red Wolves won its first home playoff game since 2005.

Junior Katie Paulakonis scored two goals in the opening eight minutes as the Red Wolves defeated Richlands 3-1 at Red Wolves Stadium. Freshman Kate Finnegan assisted on the opening two goals.

The Red Wolves, seeded #16, will face conference rival Western Alamance in the second round in Elon. The Warriors defeated another Central Conference team, Walter Williams 6-2 on Monday.

Cedar Ridge’s last home win in the state playoffs came back in 2005 when they were a 2A team. They defeated Durham School of the Arts 2-0 to move into the state quarterfinals, where they fell to Western Guilford. That Red Wolf team finished 16-1-1.

This Cedar Ridge team is now the most successful team since that squad from 19 years ago.

Much of the credit goes to first-year head coach Sam Semerzier, who now had the Red Wolves on a four-game home winning streak.

“Given the passion of this team, I thought this was possible at the beginning of the year,” Semerzier said after Cedar Ridge’s win over Williams last week, which ended the regular season. “They had the thirst to thrive. They had the urge to win from the first time I met them. Everything that was burning in their hearts in coming to life now.”

Cedar Ridge’s last playoff win came in 2018, when they defeated West Carteret 3-0 in Morehead City.

The Red Wolves scored on its first possession just 80 seconds into the game. As the Wildcats tried to mount an attack, centerback Adelynn Nasseri cut off a pass and cleared the ball upfield to Kate Finnegan. As Paulakonis went on a mad dash past the midfield line, Finnegan kneed the ball past a Wildcat midfielder and directed a gorgeous longball ahead. Paulakonis’ won a race against Richland centerback Ester Zapata and had only goalkeeper Abbigail Kaestner in front of her. Paulakonis’ dribbled around Kaestner and, with a tight angle, directed the ball towards the net with her left field. The ball rolled tenuously along the line before it crossed over just as it tapped the far post.

Cedar Ridge goalkeeper Ellamarie Perel stopped an immediate response from 20 yards away by sophomore Kamrey Watkins, who finished the season with 34 goals.

The Red Wolves would strike again only three minutes later when Paulakonis took a deep throw-in from midfield and banked it off Finnegan’s corner went directly into the nine-yard box, where Paulakonis curved through unmarked and sent a half-volley directly to the back of the net for what turned out to be the game-winning goal with 35:23 remaining in the first half.

Paulakonis nearly had a hat trick on a free kick knuckleball from 23 yards away with 21:30 remaining in the first half that nearly cleared Kaestner’s head below the crossbar, but it sailed over the net.

Watkins provided the Wildcats in the best chance in the opening 40 minutes when midfielder Torrie McAllister stripped the ball away in Richlands’ attacking end and fed Watkins, who cut across midfield and got past Natasha Buchler-Fosado, but Perel stopped a line drive from ten yards away. With 5:42 remaining, Watkins took a long counter pass, but Rachel Alverson raced her down and squared up. It led to a long shot by Cadence Brown that missed wide. Watkins fired a 21-yard heave in the waning minutes that led to Perel’s fourth save.

Watkins had the forest serious attempt in the second half when she took a long clearance pass following a Cedar Ridge free kick, but Alverson ran her down and conceded a corner. The subsequent cross was cleared by Nasseri.

Paulakonis was fouled just outside of the box with 29:45 remaining in regulation, but her shot from 19 yards skipped off the top of the crossbar, the Red Wolves ninth shot.

The Red Wolves earned its third goal with 19:34 remaining a throw-in by Finnegan. Paulakonis bounced the ball off her chest and it rebounded to Celine Galla, who shot off a bounce inside the box went off Kaetner’s hands, then the crossbar. On the rebound, Galla jumped and tapped the ball off her head into the net and was immediately mobbed after her first playoff goal.

Richlands earned a penalty kick after a foul on Cedar Ridge in the box. Facing off against Abigail Proffitt, Perel made a diving save to the left, leading to another celebration from her teammates. Immediately afterwards, Brown sent a corner kick that was headed in by Watkins for the only Wildcats goal.

Perel finished with nine saves.

There was a rainbow that appeared midway through the Cedar Ridge women’s soccer team’s Senior Night game against Walter Williams. It turned out to be a perfect symbolization for the best Cedar Ridge women’s season in 18 years. The Red Wolves got four goals from junior Katie Paulakonis, including the game-winner that broke a 3-3 tie in the second half. Paulakonis would score again in the final minute to win 5-3 and complete the regular season 12-6-1 under first-year head coach Sam Semerzier. It’s the most wins for Cedar Ridge in a season since the 2005 team, which finished 15-0-1. Captain Rachel Alverson has been a versatile presence along the Red Wolf back line. Alverson’s volleyball teammate, Natasha Buchler-Fosado, played her first season of soccer at Cedar Ridge this year. Isabella Warren and Ella Streilein were also valuable performers for the Red Wolves this year. Now, Cedar Ridge is preparing for the state playoffs for the first time since 2019. It isn’t out of the question that the Red Wolves could host a game in the state playoffs. After its win over Williams, Cedar Ridge has an RPI of #15. The Red Wolves will enjoy the rest of the week off and prepare for the release of the field of 64 brackets later this week.

Cedar Ridge soccer seniors Rachel Alverson, Natasha Buchler-Fosado, Ella Streilein & Isabella Warren

Uploaded by Jeff Hamlin on 2024-05-07.

It was a senior night for the Orange women’s soccer team they will never forget. And Cedar Ridge won’t forget it either. The Red Wolves and the Lady Panthers played to a wild 5-5 tie at Orange Soccer Field on Wednesday night. It appeared that Red Wolf junior Katie Paulakonis would notch the game-winner when she knocked in a corner kick off a feed from freshman Kate Finnegan with 1:32 remaining in the first overtime. But Orange’s Caroline Cathey scored the game’s final goal when she launched a 22-yard shot off a corner kick where Lily Crayton took a short pass and returned it to Cathey. Cedar Ridge’s Fleury Nicholson scored two goals for the Red Wolves, including a beautiful switch to her right foot and fired a ball from 21 yards to give Cedar Ridge a 3-1 lead with 38:29 remaining in regulation. Nicholson also scored off a penalty kick when Paulakonis was fouled with 6:09 remaining in the first half. Kate Finnegan also scored for Cedar Ridge. The Red Wolves will venture to Eastern Alamance on Monday. Last week, the Red Wolves scored a 3-2 win over the Eagles, the defending 3A State Champions. Cathey tied the game for Orange with 1:10 remaining in regulation and finished with two goals. 

Cedar Ridge women’s soccer Fleury Nicholson & Kate Finnegan talk 5-5 tie vs. Orange

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Cedar Ridge 9, Person 0: The Cedar Ridge women’s soccer team may very well be off to the very well the best start in school history. Junior Katie Paulakonis had one of the greatest weeks in team history last week.

Paulakonis had consecutive four-goal games. On Wednesday night, Paulakonis scored four goals in the Red Wolves Central Conference opener over Person at Red Wolves Stadium. The Red Wolves improved to 5-0, it’s first five-game winning streak to start a season since 2009, which is as far back as online records go.

Junior Fleury Nicholson, in her third year starting on the varsity level, earned her first hat trick of the season. Freshman Kate Finnegan also had a goal for the Red Wolves.

Paulakonis, a junior, is in her first season at Cedar Ridge. She was homeschooled for the past ten years at played with Dash FC out of Clayton.

Goalkeeper Ellamarie Perel earned the clean sheet as Cedar Ridge remained undefeated under new head coach Sam Semerzier.

It was Cedar Ridge’s second mercy rule win of the season. They also defeated Northern Durham 9-0 on March 8.

On Monday night in a 4-2 win over Franklinton, Paulakonis scored four goals. She added her fourth goal in the 87th minute after the Red Rams had narrowed its gap to 3-2.

Cedar Ridge will host Eno River Academy in Hillsborough on Monday night. They will host Enloe on Wednesday night, its final game before spring break.

Orange 6, Durham School of the Arts 0: Junior Caroline Cathey earned her first hat trick of the season as the Lady Panthers rolled past the Bulldogs in Hillsborough on Thursday night. Cathey now has four goals on the season.

Elliana Sullivan Gaddy notched two goals for Orange, who improved to 3-1. Ella Wimsatt, added her seventh goal of the season. Wimsatt, who is currently the leading scorer on the team, also assisted on two goals.

Cathey, Kaylen Crayton, Molly Kruse and Lucy Mignosa all had assisted for Orange. Makayla Davis earned the clean sheet as goalkeeper, her second clean sheet of the season.

Orange 5, Eno River Academy 0: In the first-ever women’s soccer game between the two Hillsborough schools, Wimsatt came away with the hat trick as the Lady Panthers earned the win at home.

Sullivan Gaddy and Kyla Mehl also had goals for Orange. Davis played the first half as goalkeeper and was credited with the win. Lexie Stephens played the second half and kept the Bobcats off the scoreboard.

Sullivan Gaddy, Evelyn Gover, Cora Bailey, Kaylen Crayton and Cathey all had assists. Senior wingback Lily Crayton and Channing Mahaney all had solid defensive games for Orange.

The Lady Panthers will travel to Elon to face Western Alamance tonight (Monday).