For someone who is only in his second year playing organized soccer, Hector Garrido sure has a flair for the dramatic.
With 35 seconds remaining in regulation, Garrido stopped a penalty kick and successfully cleared the ball away to preserve a dramatic 1-0 win over Orange over Southeast Alamance on Wednesday night in Hillsborough. Garrido guessed correctly that the Stallions shooter would fire along the right post and he knocked it down with his extended arm.
After the final seconds drifted off the clock, Garrido was mobbed by his jubilant teammates at midfield. Orange finally came out on the better end of a one-goal game, which has been the exception rather than the rule during a start to the season that has been frustrating at times.
Garrido made 12 saves for his third clean sheet of the season.
The penalty was called after a Stallion was fouled at the corner of the box.
Senior John Gomez Tercero scored the game’s only goal from 25 yards in the opening minute of the second half. It was his second goal of the season.
After starting for the Orange men’s basketball team as a freshman while Coleman Cloer was injured, Garrido became the starting goalkeeper under head coach Palmer Bowman last season. That’s despite the fact that Garrido had never even played soccer in elementary or middle school, much less on a high school team.
Southeast Alamance falls to 5-3-1.
“It all went by in a haze,” Bowman said. “It’s a big quality win. Southeast is a really good team. We needed to have a quality win before we get into conference play because we know we need to bring it against this new conference.”
Orange, now 5-4, was just two days removed from a tough, tense 1-0 loss to Riverside in Hillsborough. Ollie Maurer-Cohen scored in the 16th minute for the Pirates. Garrido made six saves and helped keep the Panthers in it during a late flurry where Yurem Tapia Mendez had a chance to score late but just placed it wide.
Riverside goalkeeper William Crutchfield made six saves to earn the clean sheet. Afterwards, Crutchfield got into a contentious exchange of words with some Orange fans seated along the sidelines that ended up with the goalkeeper being served a yellow card after the final whistle.
“The intensity and the focus from yesterday’s practice helped us tonight,” Bowman said. “That made the difference.”
Orange will start its Big Seven Conference slate against Cedar Ridge at Orange Soccer Field on Monday night.
Cedar Ridge 1, Northern Durham 0:
Ben Stephenson scored off a pass from Giovanni Yanez in the 26th minute for the only goal as Cedar Ridge won its final non-conference game before its Big 7 opener on Wednesday night at Red Wolves Stadium.
It was Stephenson’s second goal at the varsity level. He scored on a penalty in last week’s victory over Eastern Alamance.
Cedar Ridge dominated possession in the first half. The backline of Kai Miller and Simon Salazar limited the Knights to one shot on net in the first half.
Northern defeated Cedar Ridge 4-1 at Ken Browning Stadium on August 18.
In the second half, Northern midfielder Juan Sanchez immediately intercepted the opening kickoff and fired on Red Wolf senior goalkeeper Erik Galunas, who made the save. Less than a minute later, Knights’ sophomore Christian Logo fired from 26 yards, which Galunas captured easily.
Galunas was much more active in the second half, capturing several long balls on various Northern counterattacks. The best chance for Cedar Ridge in the second half came when Salazar fired from 25 yards, which Knights goalkeeper Alexi Fernandez handled.
Cedar Ridge (3-3) was coming off a 5-0 loss to Western Alamance, the defending 3A State Champions.
Things got chippy in the final minute. A Northern Durham player and a Cedar Ridge player each got red cards after an exchange with 4:51 remaining.
After a 2-0 start, Northern Durham has lost five of its last six.
