Orange Men’s Soccer

Men’s soccer: Orange 1, Carrboro 1: It looked as if the Orange men’s soccer team would suffer its second straight loss before a senior came up big in the waning seconds at Carrboro.

Ryker Stein scored his first goal of the season with 54 seconds remaining in regulation to help the Panthers escape with a 1-1 tie against the Jaguars on Wednesday night.

With just over a minute remaining, Stein was fouled 50 yards from net. On the subsequent free kick, the ball hopped into the penalty area off the shoulder of Orange’s Yurem Tapia Mendez. Stein turned on the rebound with a cross swing off his right foot that bounced into the lower left corner of the net for the equalizer.

Carrboro took the lead off a corner kick with 25:52 remaining in the second half.

It was the first time that Orange tied Carrboro since  2018, when the two teams played to a 2-2 deadlock in 2017. The two teams last met in 2019, when the Jaguars defeated the Panthers 8-2 inside Jaguars Stadium.

Orange (1-1-1) will travel to WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on Saturday morning for the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association Kick-off Classic. The Panthers will face Pinecrest at 11AM.

Cedar Ridge 1, Northwood 1: Cedar Ridge ended a three-game losing streak at Northwood with a 1-1 tie against the Chargers in Pittsboro on Monday night.

Junior Dominic McNerney scored the Red Wolves’ only goal off an assist by Rudy Fuentes. McNerney, a co-Captain, has had either an assist or a goal in each of Cedar Ridge’s four games thus far.

Goalkeeper Erik Galunas made six saves to preserve the tie. The Red Wolves remain undefeated at 3-0-1 and will return to Chatham County to face Seaforth on Monday night. It will be the final game of Cedar Ridge’s four-game road trip.

Women’s Tennis: Orange 9, Southeast Alamance 0: In the first-ever matchup between the Lady Panthers and the Stallions on the tennis courts, Orange emerged with its third win of the season. The Lady Panthers improved to 3-1 on the season.

Durham School of the Arts 5, Orange 4: On Tuesday night, the Bulldogs handed Orange its first loss of the season with victories in four of the six singles matches.

For Orange, junior Shannon Sollars remained undefeated on the season. Sollars defeated Lucia Harrington 6-2, 6-1 at #2 singles. Later in the night, Sollars teamed with her sister Erin to win at #1 doubles over Harrington and Giselle Cowden 8-3.

Orange senior Mikayla Davis won at #3 singles over Sadie Miller 6-4, 6-4. Davis teamed with Molly Kruse to win at #2 doubles 6-4.

DSA’s Avonell O’Keefe and Ruby Free clinched the match for the Bulldogs, beating Ellie Wilson and Violet Shaw 8-4. The Lady Panthers will return to action on Thursday (today) against former Central Carolina Conference rival Northwood.

It took some waiting for the Orange men’s soccer team to finally gets its season going. Their original season opener was set against Northern Durham last week, but it was postponed twice because of weather. Instead, the Panthers opened at Durham School of the Arts last Thursday and came away with a victory. Emmanuel Mil Cruz headed home a free kick by Traver Bruhns  in the second half to lift the Panthers past the Bulldogs 2-1. Bruins opened the game with the first goal. It was a solid win for Orange, who defeated a DSA team that won 14 games in 2022 and reached the 3A State Playoffs. Orange replaces 13 seniors from last year’s team, which reached the state playoffs for the first time since 2017. The top four goal scorers from the 2022 team graduated. Mil Cruz is the top returning scorer with four goals. Orange dropped its home opener against Southern Durham on Monday night. The Spartans won 4-0. Orange will try to rebound when they face Carrboro at Jaguar Stadium on Wednesday night. On Saturday, the Panthers will travel to WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary to face Pinecrest in the North Carolian Soccer Coaches Association Kick-Off Classic. The Panthers will kick off against the Patriots at 11 AM.

Orange men’s soccer’s Emmanuel Mil Cruz and Traver Bruhns discuss win over Durham School of the Arts

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There’s something that feels right about soccer in downtown Durham.

In the distance beyond the scoreboard at venerable Durham School of the Arts, there’s the Durham skyline. The storied Durham Mutual Life building can be seen by all visitors to Bulldog Stadium. It stands alongside the historic Chesterfield Building, a reminder when Durham was truly a tobacco town with the piercing smell lingered throughout town at the end of a summer days.

That’s where the Orange men’s soccer team finally started its season on Thursday night. Two seniors hooked up on a free kick for the game-winning goal.

Emmanuel Mil Cruz headed in a free kick supplied by senior Traver Bruhns with 29:54 remaining in regulation. The Panthers midfield, which was outplayed for much of the first half, largely controlled possession for the remainder of the night as Orange rode out a 2-1 victory over the Bulldogs.

Senior goalkeeper Finn Kelly earned the victory for Orange, who lost 13 seniors from the 2022 team that reached the 3A State Playoffs.

“We were more aggressive in the second half,” said Orange coach Palmer Bowman. “(DSA) Coach (Amy) Green does a great job. We knew #7 (Declan Fahley) and #9 (Ryan Rosales) were some great players. We knew we had to clean it up or they were going to punish us. We were lucky they didn’t put more on us in the first half.”

After Bruhns scored the opening goal for Orange, DSA’s Rosales notched the equalizer 0ff a corner kick. Rosales nearly added a second when he headed the ball past Kelly at the top of the box. Orange centerback Jay Parker rushed over to clear the ball off the line to keep the game tied at halftime.

After Kelly caught a Bulldog shot from distance to begin the second half, the Panthers controlled possession for the next half-hour. Joseph Lopez was tripped along the right sideline to set up a free kick. Bruhns played it to the six-yard box, where Mil Cruz soared above everyone and made solid contact with the corner of his head to tuck the ball into the roof of the net.

“Emmanuel is the workhorse for us,” Bowman said. “He and Traver are out wide for us. We ask them to do a lot of running and we ask a lot of them. But we ask them that because we know that they can do it.”

As the sun faded and the heat dissipated, Orange refused to allow a DSA counter. The Panthers piled on chance after chance in an attempt to gain a third goal. Angel Chavez attempted a header on another Orange corner, but it sailed over the crossbar. A long ball by Parker was run down by Bruhns, whose attempt went wide. Daniel Romero took a corner and fired a shot inside the six-yard box, but it was captured by DSA goalkeeper Joseph Morgado. Mil Cruz nearly earned a brace with a shot off a dead sprint that Morgado’s got a fingernail on to send it over the end line. Dallas Edwards hit the post off a corner kick with 5:12 remaining.

The Bulldogs best attempt came with 7:15 remaining when Romero nearly chased down a long ball, but Dallas Johnson cleared it away to nullify a potential game-tying goal.

It was the the first time since 2019 that Orange won its season opener. The Panthers will play its home opener against Southern Durham on Monday night.

Cedar Ridge 4, Voyager Aacdemy 1: 

The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team is 2-0 for the first time since 2019. The Red Wolves earned a road win at Voyager Academy on Thursday night.

Senior Captain Illiah Babchenko, who score the game-winning goal against Eno River Academy on Monday night, scored off a penalty kick. Andy Tarija scored his second goal of the season. Jonam Juarez and Abazar Babiker also notched goals for the Red Wolves.

Gael Antunez-Nunez had two assists. He had helpers on the goals by Tarija and Juarez. Junior Dominic McNerney assisted on Abazar’s goal.

Cedar Ridge will continues its four-game road trip against Vance County on Monday night.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior soccer midfielder Tyler Mann. This season, Mann led the Panthers with 12 goals as the Panthers put together its most successful season since 2017. Mann came up strongest in several last-minute wins that helped Orange reach the state playoffs. Against Northwood, he scored a goal in his final game in Hillsborough, a 4-2 win over Eastern Alamance in overtime. Against Northwood, Mann added another goal as the Panthers scored two goals in the final five minutes to beat the Chargers 3-2 in Pittsboro. This season, Mann scored two goals in a game four times, starting with a 4-3 victory over Northwood on September 21 in Hillsborough, a game where the Panthers scored the game-winning goal in the final five minutes. He also scored two goals against Southern Durham on September 23, a Spartans team that made the State Playoffs. Fittingly, Mann scored off a corner kick in his final game against J.H. Rose, Orange’s first state playoff game since 2017. Mann is one of 13 seniors who played under Coach Palmer Bowman in 2022. 

The Orange men’s soccer team started its season with a 2-nil loss to Riverside on a mild August night at Linny Wrenn Stadium in Durham.

As indicated by the scoreline, it was a tepid showing offensively for Orange, whose best chance to score came on a penalty kick that was saved in the first half by Riverside goalkeeper John Ballard.

Offensively, that Orange team from two months ago bares little resemblance to the squad that is now in the state playoffs. Along the way, the ride through October has been filled with last minutes heroics that have paced the way for the Panthers’ first appearance in the state playoffs since 2017.

Orange, which finished third in the Central Carolina Conference, received a #21 seed and will face #12 seed J.H. Rose in Greenville on Halloween night. The field of 64 in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3A State Tournament was released on Friday afternoon.

Rose, who finished third in the 4A/3A Big East Conference, received a #12 seed. The Rampants ended the regular season on a five-game winning streak, including a victory over D.H. Conley, who tied with Jacksonville for the Big East Championship.

Orange started 1-5 and didn’t score multiple goals in a game until they defeated Cedar Ridge 3-1 on September 14 in the opening leg of the Hillsborough Derby. At that point, the offense picked up and the Panthers won five in a row, its longest winning streak in five years.

The Panthers’ run to the postseason hasn’t lacked for drama. On October 13, Orange stunned Chapel Hill 3-2 at Ron Benson Field. They played the final 20 minutes with only ten men. Junior Emmanuel Mil Cruz scored the game-winning goal with 35 seconds remaining after Cooper Zinn scored the equalizer off an assist from Darius Corbett.

The following game, the Panthers defeated Northwood 3-2 in Pittsboro after scoring two goals in the final 15 minutes. Dylan Silverman notched the game-winning goal with 1:32 remaining with a laser shot from 25 yards away. Tyler Mann, the leading scorer on the team, tied the game. Mil Cruz scored Orange’s opener.

Orange’s senior night against Eastern Alamance last Monday may have been the most memorable of all. In a 4-2 overtime win, Corbett scored two goals in his final game at Orange Soccer Field. Zinn and Mann also scored.

Corbett, a centerback, scored Orange’s first goals of the year on penalty kicks, including the game-winner in a 1-0 victory over Knightdale, their first win of the season. Mann leads Orange with eleven goals. Cooper Zinn has seven goals.

Corbett is paired as a centerback with senior Tucker Gaddy, who were instrumental in four shutout wins this season, along with goalkeeper Connor McMurtry.

The winner of J.H. Rose-Orange will face the winner of #5 Southern Nash vs. #28 Southern Wayne in the second round.

Orange’s inclusion in the field of 64 continued a strong showing for the Central Carolina Conference, home to the defending 3A State Champions Western Alamance. Five CCC teams made the state playoffs. Walter Williams, who defeated Orange 3-0 in the regular season finale on Wednesday, is the top-overall seed in the 3A East Region.

Western Alamance (#13 seed) will host Northern Nash in the opening round. Northwood (#22) will travel to Swansboro on Monday. Eastern Alamance will go to Croatan.

Since legendary English soccer manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Manchester United hasn’t resembled the same team that won 13 Premier League championships in 20 years.

But they’re still Manchester United in England, and any win by a visiting club in Old Trafford Stadium is one worth savoring for years on end.

Closer to home, the Chapel Hill Tigers won back-to-back 3A State Championships in 2017 and 2018. This year with a younger team, they’re 7-6-3 and in 3rd place in the DAC-VII.

But they’re still Chapel Hill, a team that defeated Orange seven straight times going into Thursday night. The fact Orange went into Chapel Hill Soccer Stadium and came away with a 3-2 victory was memorable.

How they did it was incredible.

The Panthers played the final 25 minutes with only ten men after goalkeeper Connor McMurtry received a red card for diving after a loose ball on a breakaway, but hit a Chapel Hill player instead. At the time, Orange led 1-0, but the Tigers evened the match on the subsequent penalty kick. Minutes later, Chapel Hill took the lead.

It appeared the Tigers were headed towards its eighth straight win for the Panthers since they had an 11-on-10 man advantage. As backup goalkeeper Finn Kelly replaced McMurtry, Orange got the equalizing goal from Cooper Zinn to even the match 2-2 with 9:24 remaining. The goal was set up with senior centerback Darius Corbett played the ball from midfield to the left side of the field. Zinn ran down the flank and flicked it along the left post to even the game.

Kelly kept the match tied with some remarkable saves for the Panthers. With 35 seconds remaining, junior Emmanuel Del Cruz scored the game-winning goal in front of a stunned Tiger crowd. The Panthers would hold on for a 3-2 result, its third win in four days.

Del Cruz, in his first year on the varsity, earned his third goal of the season.

It was Orange’s first win over Chapel Hill in men’s soccer since September 20, 2017.

The victory is a huge boost for the Panthers hopes of reaching the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2016. Going into Thursday’s match, Orange was #22 in the 3A East Regional rankings by MaxPreps. They have risen four spots over the past week.

On Wednesday, the Panthers (9-8, 5-4 in the Central Carolina Conference) cruised to a 6-0 win over Person at Orange Soccer Park. Mann, who leads Orange with nine goals in 2022, notched two goals. It was his fourth brace of the season. Mann now has a four-game goal scoring streak.

Corbett added another goal for the Panthers. Ryker Stein, Mil Cruz, and senior Ivan Guzman all scored for the Panthers to complete a season sweep of the Rockets. Senior Dylan Silverman added an assist, as did sophomore Eben Petrides.

Orange will continue its pursuit of a birth in the 3A State Playoffs with a road trip to Northwood on Monday night in Pittsboro.

The chances of the Orange men’s soccer team earning its first trip to the 3A State Playoffs got a major boost this week. On Thursday night, the Panthers stunned Chapel Hill 3-2 at Tiger Soccer Stadium. The Panthers trailed 2-1 and played the final 20 minutes without its starting goalkeeper after he received a red card. Playing with ten men, the Panthers got the game-tying goal from Cooper Mann. With 34 seconds remaining, Emmanuel Mil Cruz scored the game-winning goal as the Panthers defeated the Tigers for the first time since September 20, 2017. The Tigers had beaten Orange seven straight times. On Wednesday, the Panthers defeated Person 6-0 at Orange Soccer Field. Tyler Mann had two goals and three assists. Mil Cruz, Ivan Guzman and Ryker Stein each scored a goal. On Tuesday night, Orange won the Hillsborough Derby with a 4-1 win at Cedar Ridge, which is where this video was shot. Mann scored two goals, while Eben Petrides scored the first goal of his varsity career. Bryan Membreno scored the game-winning goal on a rocket from over 30 yards away. Orange is on a three-game winning streak and will face Northwood in Pittsboro on Monday night. 

The free-flowing, shots from all angles melee that was the opening leg of the Hillsborough Derby between Orange and Cedar Ridge last month bore little resemblance to what unfolded on Monday night at Cedar Ridge Stadium.

The centerback tandems for each team largely dictated the pace of play and, in Cedar Ridge’s case, the scoring. But it was Orange senior Tyler Mann who factored in the most, scoring two goals in the second half to lead the Panthers past Cedar Ridge 4-1. It secured Orange’s first regular season sweep of its crosstown rivals since 2017.

“You have to give Cedar Ridge credit,” said Orange coach Palmer Bowman. “They were more physical than us and they wanted the ball more. They just had a couple of bounces not go their way, but they dominated the first half.”

Senior Issac Anderson notched the only Red Wolves goal with 16:21 remaining in the second half off a corner kick by Illiah Babchenko. Anderson, a centerback who shares the defensive backfield with sophomore Solomon Hernandez, helped the Red Wolves control the possession early. Orange didn’t get a shot off in the opening ten minutes.

“You have to remain positive,” said Cedar Ridge coach Chauncey Brummel following a lengthy postgame meeting with his team. “We let them know that the rest of the season is up to them. It’s up to them how we want to end this season. I think you just keep going. We have a lot of seniors on this team and I asked them to step up. We have to put this game behind us.”

Orange’s (7-8, 4-4 in the Central Carolina Conference) centerback duo of senior Darius Corbett and Tucker Gaddy broke up numerous Cedar Ridge scoring opportunities as both teams struggled to generate offense after kickoff. With 14:57 remaining in the first half, Orange’s Traver Bruhns intercepted a pass on Orange’s attacking end. Senior Cooper Wheelis found classmate Bryan Membreno, who unleashed a rocket from 28 yards away that curled into the upper right corner of the night past Cedar Ridge goalkeeper Erik Galunasnas for the opening goal.

Cedar Ridge (4-12-1, 2-7) had its best first half chance when Justin Murillo took a lead pass and was in a leg race with Corbett in an attempt to break away. Corbett beat Murillo to the ball and cleared it across the end line. On the subsequent corner kick, a header by Hernandez sailed over the crossbar.

“In the second half, we had more possession time,” Bowman said. “We’re fortunate to have Darius and Tucker. They give us great comfort back there.”

With 25:20 remaining in the second half, Cooper Zinn took a free kick 45 yards from net following a Cedar Ridge foul. Zinn arched a gorgeous ball to Mann, who sent a worm burner into the net for the first insurance goal.

After Anderson’s marker reduced Orange’s lead to 2-1, the Red Wolves had numerous chances to tie the game. Mendez locked up with Corbett in transition once again off a pass from Murillo, but Mendez was off balance and his shot went high.

On Orange’s final corner kick of the night, a ball sent In by senior Cooper Zinn skipped off the head of teammate Dylan Silverman away from net. Sophomore Eben Petrides, free off the left flank, pounced on the rebound and fired a line drive from 14 yards away for his first varsity goal with 19:45 remaining to increase the Panthers’ lead to 3-1.

Mann, who has a team-high seven goals this season, added his second goal off an assist from Zinn with 4:00 remaining.

Now Orange will spent the final two weeks of the regular season with its biggest games in six years, which was the last time they made the state playoffs. On Wednesday, the Panthers will host Person. Next Monday, they will commemorate Senior Night against Eastern Alamance.

Orange will go into the Person game with a MaxPreps ranking of #24 in the 3A East. 32 teams in the East Region will make the 3A State Playoffs.

“It’s not about me playing,” Bowman said. “It’s about these guys and just trying to get them to take advantage of the moment and enjoy the moment.”

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior goalkeeper Connor McMurtry. On September 23, McMurtry made some crucial saves as the Panthers defeated Southern Durham 5-3 at Spartans Stadium. With Orange leading 4-2 at halftime, McMurtry made four big diving saves to keep the Panthers ahead and ultimately preserve an important nonconference win against the leaders of the Northern Lakes Conference. Three nights later, McMurtry was in net as Orange defeated Graham 3-0. It was the Panthers fifth straight win, its longest winning streak since 2016. McMurtry was the winning goalkeeper in the Panthers 4-3 win over Northwood on September 21. At the beginning of the season, McMurtry had a clean sheet as the Panthers defeated Knightdale 1-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park for its first win of the season. Orange will enter a crucial week next week to face Cedar Ridge on Monday, followed by a home game against Person. Orange is currently ranked #26 in the MaxPreps 3A East Region, meaning they’re fighting for its first birth in the state playoffs since 2016.