Orange Men’s Soccer

It was a game played at Cedar Ridge’s Stadium.

It was played at their pace.

It was played with Cedar Ridge getting the better chances in the final 50 minutes.

Yet it was Orange who came away from the Hillsborough Derby victorious continuing to take giant steps towards unprecedented heights in the 37-year history of the program.

Daniel Toledo’s goal in the 35th minute, assisted by Yurem Tapia Mendez, was the only tally on the night as Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 1-0 at Red Wolves Stadium. Orange improved to 10-4 and remains on pace to tie the school record for most wins in a season.

The 2010 Orange team finished 15-6, losing in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs to Western Alamance 1-0 in Elon.

Orange junior Demetrius Holmes triggered the game’s only goal with a long dribble past midfield. A quick feed to Mendez on the right side of the penalty area drew Cedar Ridge goalkeeper Erik Galunas off his line. Mendez first thought about shooting but decided to send a diagonal pass to Toledo, who fired the ball into an empty net with 5:28 remaining in the first half.

Orange sophomore goalkeeper Hector Garrido, who had not played organized soccer before this year, earned his fifth clean sheet of the season, but it wasn’t a game where the Panthers dictated play. Following Toledo’s goal, the Red Wolves came away with better scoring opportunities in the second half.

“I think we played the way that Cedar Ridge wanted us to play,” said Orange coach Palmer Bowman. “They got us off our game. We were fortunate to get one. They won a lot of balls out of the air and dictated how the game went tonight.”

Cedar Ridge (5-7-2 overall, 4-4 in the Central Conference) immediately had a chance off a corner kick. A ball sent in bounced off the head of Alex Rosales, hopped off the ground and bounced off the crossbar. Garrido’s momentum nearly took him into his own net as he grabbed the ball for the save.

“Before the game in the locker room, I told the boys to go out and give 100% on every single play,” said Cedar Ridge assistant coach Seth Foster. “Regardless of the outcome, at the end of the day, we’re happy with that. The boys came out at the beginning of the game and set the tone. They controlled the flow. I thought we outplayed them for the majority of the game. We had one simple mistake in the first half. Overall, I was happy with how we played.”

Cedar Ridge’s Salomon Hernandez had a breakaway opportunity five minutes into the second half. Garrido came out of the net to shut down his angle, leaving Hernandez with no choice but to fire from 21 yards, which rolled wide.

With 29:05 remaining, Hernandez would get another chance with a free kick of 23 yards. Hernandez aimed it for the upper left corner, but Garrido used his 6-1 frame to gently tap it over the left post for his best save of the night.

Orange centerback Dallas Johnson disrupted several Cedar Ridge chances throughout the night, denying a run by Cedar Ridge forward Edwin Diaz in the final ten minutes. The Red Wolves best chance in the waning minutes came when Niko James sent a wormburner on net from 18 yards, which bounced off Gurrido’s chest as Rosales ran in. Gurrido smothered the ball before Rosales could get the equalizer.

Orange is 5-2 in Central Conference play. Currently, Orange’s RPI is #9 in the 3A East Region. If the Panthers can maintain that standing for the remainder of the regular season, they will likely host a state playoff game for the first time since the program started in the summer of 1987 under original head coach Pat Todd.

An unexpectedly long layoff for the Orange men’s soccer team finally ended with a decisive win over Eastern Alamance on Wednesday at the John Kirby Sports Complex in Mebane.

The Panthers won 7-0 behind goals from seven different players. Orange improved to 8-3. They remain in second place in the Central Conference with a 3-1 mark.

It had been nine days between games for the Panthers, which is almost unheard of as September bridges into October. Games against Southern Alamance and Northern Durham were postponed or (in the case of Northern Durham) cancelled because of rain over the past two weeks.

Yurem Tapia Mendez notched his third straight game with a goal with a tally in the first half. Mendez now has 12 goals and one assist on the season.

Senior Issac Gallegos assisted on two goals.

Brendan McDonald, Logan Edwards, Angel Chavez, John Gomez Tercero, Daniel Romero Toledo and Chris Lopez each scored goals for the Panthers.

Kace McAuley, Carson Condon, Chavez and Toledo each had assists.

Durvin Lopez Abarca and Hector Garrido each played 40 minutes as the Orange goalkeeper. Abarca made one save.

Orange will travel to Western Alamance on Monday night at Primm Stadium in Elon. The Warriors are ahead of the Panthers by one game for first place in the Central Conference.

Southern Alamance 2, Cedar Ridge 1: Southern Alamance’s Curtis Evans scored off a corner kick with 2:53 remaining in regulation to lead the Patriots over the Red Wolves on Thursday night at Red Wolf Stadium. Brian Reyes assisted on the goal. It was Southern Alamance’s first win of the season. They’re now 1-10, The Red Wolves fall to 3-6-2 overall, 2-3 in the Central Conference. Cedar Ridge will host Person on Monday night in Hillsborough.

The Orange men’s soccer team is off to its best start in 17 years. On Monday, the Panthers defeated Walter Williams 3-2 in Burlington. Junior Yurim Tapia Mendez scored a hat trick for Orange, who defeated the Bulldogs for the second time in two years. Instrumental in Orange’s success has been an experienced back line that includes Eben Petrides. On August 28, the Panthers defeated Eno River Academy in the first-ever meeting between the two teams at Orange Soccer Field. Joseph Lopez assisted on a goal for Orange. Issac Gallegos scored a goal in Orange’s 5-3 win over Durham School of the Arts on August 19. Lopez also assisted in Orange’s win over Williams. The Panthers are in pursuit of making the 3A State Playoffs for the third straight year. It would be the first time ever that Orange has made the state playoffs three straight years. This week, Orange’s game against Cedar Ridge was rained out. The opening leg of the Hillsborough Derby will be rescheduled for another date. In the meantime, Orange will hit the road to face Person in Roxboro on Monday. The Panthers will return home to face Southern Alamance on Wednesday night in Hillsborough. Orange is 6-3 overall, 1-1 in the Central Conference.

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The Orange men’s soccer team is off to its best start in 17 years. On Monday, the Panthers defeated Walter Williams 3-2 in Burlington. Junior Yurim Tapia Mendez scored a hat trick for Orange, who defeated the Bulldogs for the second time in two years.

Photo by Kim Petrdies

Orange 3, Walter Williams 2: The rain was enough to stop most outdoor sporting events on Monday. But it wasn’t enough to stop Yurim Tapia Mendez.

Orange’s striker had his first career hat trick to lead the Panthers past Walter Williams 3-2 at Springwood Park in Burlington. It was the Panthers second straight win over the Bulldogs and continued Orange’s best start in over a decade. They improved to 6-3, 1-1 in the Central Conference, beating a perennial power that won consecutive league titles in 2021 and 2022.

Mendez now has nine goals through the opening nine games of the season. He started the year by scoring the game-winning goal in Orange’s first-ever victory over Carrboro. In all, Mendez has three game-winning goals this season.

Mendez’s first came off a corner kick that was assisted by senior Joseph Lopez. His second goal was assisted by Brendan McDonald, which put Orange ahead 2-0 in the first half. Mendez completed the hat trick with a tally off a penalty kick.

Lucas Stroud scored in the first half for the Bulldogs, who fell to 6-4-1 overall, 1-1 in the Central Conference. With Orange leading 3-1, sophomore Aurelio Figueroa added a goal for the Bulldogs off an assist from Daniel Angel.

Orange sophomore goalkeeper Hector Garrido made four saves. Orange’s backline of Eben Petrides, Dallas Johnson, Logan Edwards and Jay Parker kept the Bulldogs from tallying a game-tying goal amidst a driving rain onto the turf field in Burlington.

Orange will face Cedar Ridge in the opening leg of the Hillsborough Derby on Thursday night at Panther Soccer Field.

Cedar Ridge 8, Person 0: Sophomore Niko James had his first career hat trick as the Red Wolves won its Central Conference opener in Roxboro last Wednesday.

James, who leads the Red Wolves with seven goals, notched the game-winner as Cedar Ridge improved to 2-3-2 overall. James also had the game-winning goal in the Red Wolves other win on the season against Eno River Academy on September 3.

Freshman Alex Rosales added two goals. He now has three on the season. In a testament to the Red Wolves youth after losing rising senior Dominic McNerney at the last minute, all of Cedar Ridge’s goals were scored by freshmen or sophomores.

Freshman Rodrigo Arellano added his second varsity goal for the Red Wolves. Sophomore Andy Tarija had a goal and an assist. Sawyer Smith, a sophomore, added his first varsity goal. Senior Edwin Huerta, who also wrestles for the Red Wolves, had two assists. Noah Koehler had an assist, as did senior Salomon Hernandez.

Goalkeeper Erik Galunas earned the clean sheet.

Western Alamance 2, Orange 0: Orange tested itself against the very best that the Central Conference had to offer last week and stood toe-to-toe with them. On a night of close calls, Orange couldn’t find one to go its way as they fell to the defending Central Conference champions in its league opener.

Following a scoreless first half, the Warriors earned a penalty kick on a borderline call on the edge of the Orange box with 19:47 remaining in regulation. Noah Barnett opted to go straightaway against Orange goalkeeper Hector Garrido, who made the save. Barnett led the Warrior charge on the rebound and chested the ball into an empty net.

Orange appeared to tie the game with 15:50 remaining when Tapia got the ball in on the goal line, but Warriors goalkeeper Eamon Hipps trapped the ball on the chalk of the goal line.

McNerney, the transfer from Cedar Ridge, added an insurance goal with 12:57 remaining on a gorgeous lead pass from Franky Maya. McNerney now leads Western Alamance with eleven goals.

Not to be outdone, Garrido made another save on a penalty kick in the final minutes of the second half. Garrido, who started Orange men’s basketball season-opener last year, is in his first year as the Panthers starting goalkeeper.

It was better late than never for the Orange men’s soccer team in its first trip to Northern Durham’s new on-campus facility.

Thanks to some late heroics, the Panthers are now off to its best start since 2010.

After assisting on the game-tying goal in the 81st minute, junior Demetrius Holmes scored the game-winning goal with two minutes remaining in regulation as the Panthers defeated the Knights 2-1 last Wednesday.

After winning its final tuneup before the Central Conference opener, the Panthers are 5-2. Orange last started 5-2 in 2010, when they were a 2A team.

Northern scored its only goal just before halftime. William Mejia chipped in a pass from sophomore Derrick Corea to give the Knights the lead going into halftime.

Holmes scored in first varsity goal on August 28 against Eno River Academy. Brendan McDonald scored evened the game off a feed from Holmes, which was his first varsity assist.

Holmes scored the game-winning goal off a rebound. Sophomore Hector Garrido earned his fifth win, stopping four shots.

Orange has won three in a row going into its conference opener against Western Alamance on Wednesday night in Hillsborough. The Warriors recently added former Cedar Ridge All-Conference midfielder Dominic McNerney to its roster. McNerney has opened the year with eight goals and six assists for the Warriors, who are 6-1.

Cedar Ridge 2, Eno River Academy 0: Four weeks into the season, the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team hasn’t played a home game and lost its top player to Western Alamance two days before the opener.

Last Tuesday, the Red Wolves found reason to believe when they defeated Eno River Academy 2-0 at soccer.com Soccer Complex in Efland. Niko James, who scored Cedar Ridge’s first goal of the season in a loss to Carrboro, scored the Red Wolves’ first game-winning goal of the season off an assist from Andy Tarija.

Rodrigo Arellano added another goal off an assist from Noah Koehler. Erik Galunas made five saves for his first clean sheet of the season.

Cedar Ridge will start Central Conference play at Person in Roxboro on Wednesday night.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is men’s soccer midfielder Yurem Tapia Mendez. Last week, Mendez scored two goals as the Panthers defeated Eno River Academy 6-1 at Panther Soccer Field. It has been a season of game-winning goals for Mendez thus far. On August 12, in the season opener, Orange defeated Carrboro 1-0 in Hillsborough. It was the Panthers first-ever victory over the Jaguars. Mendez scored the only goal in the first half. On August 24, Mendez scored another game-winning goals in the second half as the Panthers defeated West Johnston 2-1 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary during the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association Kickoff Classic. He started this season with six goals in the opening five games. The Panthers, after its win over Northern Durham on Wednesday night, is off to a 5-2 start. It’s the best start for the Panthers since 2016. Mendez is a big fan of FC Barcelona of Spain’s La Liga. He envisions playing soccer professionally in the future. Mendez is in his third year as a member of Orange’s varsity. Last season, he scored two goals across eight games. He added eight assists. Last season, Mendez scored goals against Southern Alamance and Walter Williams, a 2-1 Panthers win. He also had two assists in a win over Person.

Orange Panther of the Week: Yurem Tapia Mendez

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is men’s soccer midfielder Yurem Tapia Mendez. Last week, Mendez scored two goals as the Panthers defeated Eno River Academy 6-1 at Panther Soccer Field. It has been a season of game-winning goals for Mendez thus far.