Cedar Ridge Men’s Soccer

It speaks to the higher standards of Cedar Ridge men’s soccer than they tied their win total from all of last season on Wednesday night, but still came away disappointed in their performance. The Red Wolves defeated Person 5-0 at Red Wolves Stadium, Cedar Ridge’s first home game since the season-opener against Eno River Academy on August 14. Yet Cedar Ridge missed out on several scoring opportunities that could have increased the scoring total. Junior Alejandro Macero-Ramos notched his first two goals at the varsity level. Senior Abazar Babiker, junior Salomon Hernandez and sophomore Edber Lopez also had goals for the Red Wolves. Cedar Ridge senior co—Captain Iliah Babchenko, this academic year’s first winner of the Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week, had two assists. Cedar Ridge won its Central Carolina Conference opener and improves to 5-0-1, improving on the best start for the team in over 13 years. Gael Antunez-Nunez also had two assists. Cedar Ridge will turn around and travel to Dave Thaden Stadium on Thursday night for a non conference game against East Chapel Hill. Then the Red Wolves will travel to Graham to face Southern Alamance on Monday night. Next Wednesday, the Red Wolves will host Orange in the first leg of the Hillsborough Derby at Red Wolves Stadium.

CRHS soccer’s Iliah Babchenko, Alejandro Macero-Ramos,Abazar Babiker & Salomon Hernandez talk win

It speaks to the higher standards of Cedar Ridge men’s soccer than they tied their win total from all of last season on Wednesday night, but still came away disappointed in their performance. The Red Wolves defeated Person 5-0 at Red Wolves Stadium, Cedar Ridge’s first home game since the season-opener against Eno River Academy on August 14.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is men’s soccer junior striker Dominic McNerney. The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team is 4-0-1, its best start in 15 years, at least. Last week, the Red Wolves played to a 1-1 tie at Northwood. McNerney scored the game’s only goal, assisted by Rudy Fuentes. Thus far, McNerney has had a goal or an assist in every game so far this year. He assisted on a goal in the Red Wolves’ 4-1 win at Vance County on August 21. He scored a goal in Cedar Ridge’s season-opening win over Eno River Academy at Red Wolves Stadium. Against Voyager Academy in Durham on August 17, McNerney assisted on a goal scored by Abazar Babiker. Like many teenagers, Dominic’s soccer fandom was enhanced by watching games from England’s Premier League, where he is a fan of Chelsea FC. McNerney is a co-Captain on this year’s team. His goal is to help lead the Red Wolves back to the postseason for the first time since 2016. Cedar Ridge is undefeated even though they have played four of its five games on the road. Their only home game came on August 14, its season opener. Cedar Ridge will finally play a game at Red Wolves Stadium on Wednesday when they host Person for its Central Carolina Conference opener.

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This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is men’s soccer junior striker Dominic McNerney. The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team is 4-0-1, its best start in 15 years, at least. Last week, the Red Wolves played to a 1-1 tie at Northwood. McNerney scored the game’s only goal, assisted by Rudy Fuentes.

For much of the night, it appeared that Cedar Ridge would suffer its first loss of the season amid the soggy conditions at Seaforth Stadium.

But in a year that has defied expectations thus far, the Red Wolves found a way to win despite trailing by two goals with 28 minutes remaining.

Jonam Juarez scored two goals, including the game-winner, as Cedar Ridge defeated Seaforth 3-2 on Monday night.

The Red Wolves set up the game-winning goal off a corner kick. Iliah Babchenko sent an in-swinging ball that was bobbled by Seaforth goalkeeper Jack Haste. Juarez gained control of the ball inside the six-yard box and kicked into into an empty net to put the Red Wolves ahead with 3:13 remaining.

Sophomore Giovani Yanez tied the game with his first goal of the season. Bazar Babiker and Dominic McNerney also assisted on goals. Goalkeeper Eric Galunas made seven saves to pick up his fourth win of the season.

Cedar Ridge ends a four-game road trip with a 3-0-1 mark. The Red Wolves, who played its only home game of the season against Eno River Academy, will return home to face East Chapel Hill on Wednesday night. It will be Cedar Ridge’s final game before play in the Central Carolina Conference begins. On September 6, the Red Wolves will host Person to start conference play.

Riverside 6, Orange 0: The Orange men’s soccer team dropped a contest against Riverside on Monday night in Hillsborough. Pirates junior Maynor Zambrano scored four goals for Riverside, who improved to 3-1. Gustavo Lagos and Nico Alcala Ruiz also had goals for Riverside.

Ruiz and Lagos also notched assists for the Pirates. Liam Gergen and Michael Salinas Ordonez also had assists.

Orange goalkeeper Finn Kelly had a busy night, making six saves. The Panthers fall to 1-3-1 and will travel to Western Alamance on Wednesday night to kick off CCC play.

Final from Saturday: Pinecrest 4, Orange 0: Orange journeyed to WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary to participate in the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association Kick-Off. The Patriots improved to 5-1 with the win.

Our first Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week for the 2023-2024 academic year is senior men’s soccer midfielder Iliah Babchenko. Last week, Babchenko scored a goal in Cedar Ridge’s 4-2 win over Eno River Academy at Red Wolves Stadium. It was the first-ever matchup between the two teams. Babchenko also assisted on a goal against the Bobcats. In its first road trip of the season, Cedar Ridge defeated Voyager Academy 4-1 in Durham. Babchenko scored on a penalty kick. The son of Ukrainian parents who immigrated to the United States in the early 2000s, Babchenko has played at the varsity level for four years. He endured the pandemic that curtailed much of his freshman year. Cedar Ridge is 3-0-1, its best start since 2009, at the very least. On Wednesday night, the Red Wolves played Northwood to a 1-1 tie. Babchenko nearly made the 3A State Playoffs in his sophomore year, but the Red Wolves were the last team out of the field of 64. This season, Cedar Ridge’s goal is to make the postseason for the first time since 2016. Babchenko has been a vocal leader, during training and on the pitch during games, throughout the early stages of this 2023 season.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Iliah Babchenko

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The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team is off to its best start in 13 years, at least.

On Monday night, the Red Wolves journeyed to Henderson and defeated former conference rival Vance County 3-1. Cedar Ridge is now 3-0 after starting the year with wins over Eno River Academy and Voyager Academy.

Inside Vipers Stadium, sophomore Gael Antunez-Nunez notched his second goal of the season. Last week in a win over Voyager Academy, Antunez-Nunez assisted on two goals in a 4-1 victory over Voyager. Antunez-Nunez also scored in the season-opener against Eno River.

Senior Abazar Babiker added his first goal of the season, while Rudy Fuentes added insurance for the Red Wolves, who claimed its second straight road win. Fuentes had an assist, as did junior Dominic McNerney and sophomore Giovanni Yanez added assists.

Sophomore goalkeeper Erik Galunas made nine saves for his third win of the season. Cedar Ridge will continue its four-game road trip on Wednesday when they face Northwood in Pittsboro. During the summer, the Chargers left the Central Carolina Conference to drop down to 2A to join the Mid-Carolina Conference.

Southern Durham 4, Orange 0: After winning its season opener at Durham School of the Arts on Thursday, Southern Durham defeated Orange in the Panthers home opener on Monday night. The Panthers will travel to recover when they face the Carrboro Jaguars at Jaguar Stadium on Wednesday night.

Women’s Tennis: Orange 5, Riverside 4: In a tight dual match where one doubles tilt decides the whole shooting match, it’s good to have a duo who qualified for the 3A State Tournament last year on your side.

That’s exactly what Orange had against Riverside in Durham last Thursday.

With the dual match all square 4-4, Erin and Shannon Sollars teamed at #1 doubles to defeat Calista Robinson and Jordan Oakley 8-6 to provide Orange a dual match victory in Durham. The Lady Panthers improved to 2-0.

Shannon Sollars, a junior, also won at #2 singles over Oakley 6-2, 6-2.

Senior Makayla Davis won two straight matches on the day for the second time in as many dual matches. Davis captured her singles match over Emma Wilcox 6-4, 6-0. At #2 doubles, Davis teamed with sophomore Molly Kruse over Wilcox and Cynthia Balin 8-4.

Kruse also won two matches. In addition to her doubles win, Kruse won the tightest match of the day against Rachael Ades 5-7, 6-1, 10-3. Kruse has won all four of her matches this year.

Orange returns home today (Tuesday) to face Durham School of the Arts.

Cedar Ridge 8, Voyager Academy 1: The Cedar Ridge women’s tennis team opened the season last week. In its second match, the Red Wolves defeated Voyager Academy. The Red Wolves won five of the six singles matches.

Senior Cameron Mayhew won at #1 singles over Katelyn Hutson 6-1, 6-3. Junior Ella Caltabiano won at #2 singles over Karli McKenna 6-3, 6-0. Junior Adeline Cummings, another returning player from last year, won 6-0, 6-0 over Grace Garrett. Raven Mowles-Airing won at #4 singles over Fiorella Cedeno 6-4, 6-0. Red Wolves senior Annabeth Lundberg won at #6 singles against Jillian Draughon 6-1, 6-0.

Cedar Ridge captured all three doubles matches. Mayhew and Cummings won at #1 doubles 6-4. Caltabiano and Ballenger won at #2 and Mowles-Airing and Lunbdberg prevailed at #3 doubles.

Cross Country: The Cedar Ridge cross country team started its season at the Early Bird Challenge at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on Saturday. Red Wolves junior Naomi Dyreng finished 10th in the women’s competition among 156 runners. Dyreng came in with a time of 20:58.90. Last year, Dyreng won three Mideast Regional championships in the outdoor track and field championships at Franklinton High School. Dyreng won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Dyreng teamed with Abigail Klaitman, Serena Summers and Eliza Klaitman to win the regional championship in the 4×800 women’s relay.

She was also the top female runner for Cedar Ridge at the 3A State Cross Country championships last November at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville.

The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team endured one of the hottest days of the year to win its season-opener on Monday night. Cedar Ridge defeated Eno River Academy 4-2 at Red Wolves Stadium. Senior co-Captain Iliah Babchenko scored the game-winning goal in the first half as Cedar Ridge won its season opener for the first time since 2019. Andy Tarija, Gael Antunez-Nunez and Dominic McNerney also tallied goals for the Red Wolves. Babchenko and Antunez-Nunez also assisted on goals. Sophomore goalkeeper Erik Galunas earned the win. He finished with five saves, including one on a penalty kick. Cedar Ridge went 5-15-2 last season. The Red Wolves haven’t reached the state playoffs since 2017 and are looking to reach the field of 64. Two years ago, during head coach Chauncey Brunmmel’s first season, Cedar Ridge was the last team out of the 2021 state playoffs. Cedar Ridge had to replace leading scorer Chris Mendez from last season, but have a wide array of midfielders that can put the ball in the net. The home game on Monday night was the final game inside Red Wolves Stadium for the next few weeks. Cedar Ridge starts a four-game road trip on Thursday night against Voyager Academy in Durham. The Red Wolves travel to Henderson to face Vance County next Monday.

Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team discusses win over Eno River Academy

The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team endured one of the hottest days of the year to win its season-opener on Monday night. Cedar Ridge defeated Eno River Academy 4-2 at Red Wolves Stadium. Senior co-Captain Iliah Babchenko scored the game-winning goal in the first half as Cedar Ridge won its season opener for the first time since 2019.

On one of the hottest day of the year with nary a drop to rain to be found, Cedar Ridge’s co-Captain provided the game-winning goal to beat a crosstown neighbor and win the season opener all in one swoop.

Senior Iliah Babchenko broke a 1-all tie in the first half, while freshman Andy Tarija scored in his first varsity game during the second half as the Red Wolves defeated Eno River 4-2 at Cedar Ridge Stadium on Monday night.  The Red Wolves got insurance goals from junior Dominic McNerney and sophomore Gael Antunez-Nunez to win its first season opener since 2019.

The Red Wolves had to replace Chris Mendez, their leading scorer from a 5-15-1 team from 2022. Mendez had eleven goals in 2022 and 34 in a career that was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have some offensive threats on our team,” said Cedar Ridge coach Chauncey Brummell, who started his third season on Monday night. “Chris was a special player on our team last season, but we definitely have some players on this team that can make up for the scoring.”

Sophomore goalkeeper Erick Galunas earned the win in net for Cedar Ridge. He made five saves, including a stop on a Bobcat penalty kick.

In the weeks leading up to Monday night, Brummell installed a new 3-5-2 formation to bolster his team’s midfielders and test the durability of opposing teams.

“We have very strong midfielders,” Brummell said. “The boys are optimistic about the new formation. We want to test opposing teams. In the second half, we were able to find those pockets and those seams and got the ball through for scoring chances.”

Cedar Ridge will travel to Voyager Academy in Durham on Thursday night.

“We moved the ball around very well,” Brummell said. “We’re dangerous on crossing the ball. We’re dangerous on the counter attack. That’s where we found most of our success.”

Women’s Tennis: Orange 6, Eno River 3: Last year, the Orange women’s tennis team had its greatest season in program history because of depth provided by athletes who also excelled in soccer. Isabel Jones, Katelyn Van Mater and Sydney Rogers all were regular starters on the tennis courts and the pitch (though Rogers was injured her senior year) as Orange won the Central Carolina Conference championship, the first league tennis title in school history.

Van Mater, Rogers and Jones have graduated, but Orange still received depth from another soccer player to win its season opener at Orange Tennis Courts on Monday. Sophomore Molly Kruse won two matches, including a victory at #5 singles, to defeat Eno River in the first-ever matchup between the two schools in women’s tennis.

Kruse, who scored two goals last spring, opened with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at #5 singles over Quinn Parker. Kruse teamed with senior Makayla Davis at #2 doubles to defeat Rebecca Kirby and Ximena Ceja-Reyes 8-2.

Orange’s senior tandem of Erin and Shannon Sollars, who qualified for the 3A State Doubles Tournament last year, were in midseason form to open the year. Erin Sollars captured the win at #1 singles 6-0, 6-1, while Shannon won at #2 singles over Kirby 6-2, 6-1. The Sollars Sisters teamed to win at #1 doubles 8-1, which ensured the first Orange win of the season.

Davis also won two matches on the night. In addition to her doubles victory with Kruse, Davis defeated Betts Roney at #3 singles 6-2. 6-1.

Eno River notched victories from senior Elenaor Finkle, who defeated Ellie Wilson at #4 singles 6-4, 6-1. At #6 singles, Lily Kate Phillipps won via default when her opponent retired.

Parker and Phipps defeated Lindsay Woodell and Aubrey Petrosanu at #3 doubles 8-4.

Orange will return to action with a trip to Durham to face Riverside on Thursday. Eno River will host the Triangle School of Math and Science in Hillsborough on Wednesday afternoon.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior soccer striker Chris Mendez. On Tuesday night, Mendez scored the 25th gaol of his career as the Red Wolves upset Eastern Alamance 2-0 at the John Kirby Sports Complex in Mebane. This season, Mendez scored eleven goals for the Red Wolves, including a hat trick against Person on October 6. He notched his first goal of the season against South Garner in a 2-1 victory at WakeMed Soccer Park on August 26. On September 1, Mendez scored a hat trick in the Red Wolves’ 8-0 win over Eastern Guilford. In 2021, Mendez led Cedar Ridge with 13 goals. He ended his junior season with his first career hat trick against Eastern Alamance at Red Wolves Stadium. With his Cedar Ridge career over, Mendez plans to attend UNC-Chapel Hill, as well as play pickup soccer in his spare time. Mendez will graduate from Cedar Ridge in June. 

On October 6, the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team defeated Person 6-0 at Red Wolves Stadium. It was another strong game for senior Chris Mendez, who notched his second hat trick of the season against the Rockets. Mendez previously had another hat trick in a 8-0 win over Eastern Guilford on September 1 in Hillsborough. During his three years at the varsity level, Mendez has scored 24 goals for the Red Wolves. He finished out his junior season with a hat trick against Eastern Alamance. Sophomore centerback Solomon Hernandez had a career-high two goals for the Red Wolves. Hernandez brings a stellar defensive presence for Cedar Ridge that will be valuable as he continues his high school career. Hernandez scored his first varsity goal against Eastern Guilford. He was a regular performer last season as a freshman. Cedar Ridge will hold its senior night agains the Durham School of the Arts at Red Wolves Stadium on October 26.