Shades of 2024 are beginning to show for the Orange men’s soccer team, a very positive sign indeed.
Last year, the Panthers won a school-record 16 games, half of them by one goal.
Orange started this season coming up short in close games, falling by one goal in losses to Southern Durham and Riverside. After breaking through in a dramatic win over Southeast Alamance where junior goalkeeper Hector Garrido made a save on a penalty kick with less than a minute remaining to preserve a 1-0 win, Orange broke through.
Now, they roll into Carrboro for one of the biggest regular season games in recent program history on a three-game winning streak.
On Friday, the Panthers defeated Hillside 3-2 at Russel Blunt Stadium in Durham. Yurem Tapia Mendez, who led the team with 19 goals last season, notched the game-winner off an assist from John Gomez Tercero.
Orange (7-4) captured its final non conference game before venturing permanently into Big 7 Conference action for the remainder of the regular season.
Ajali Carter scored the opener off a punt by Garrido.
Hillside (2-9-1) got a goal from Christopher Miles-Thornton for the equaliser. The Hornets took the lead when Michael Blanco fired in a goal off a feed from freshman Luis Padilla.
Orange would start the rally when Dallas Johnson scored off a corner kick that Hillside couldn’t clear. It led the way for Mendez’s final goal of the night, his fourth of the season.
It was the second straight game where Mendez scored the game-winning goal. Last Monday, Mendez scored two penalty kicks to defeat Cedar Ridge 2-0 in the opening leg of the Rosewood Wealth Management Cup.
On Monday (tonight), the Panthers will travel to Carrboro. Last year, Mendez tallied the only goal off an assist by Kace McAuley to defeat the Jaguars 1-0 in the season-opener in Hillsborough. It was the first time on record that Orange defeated Carrboro in men’s soccer.
Carrboro and Orange are tied for first place in the Big 7 in the loss column. The Jaguars have already defeated Seaforth and South Granville and have won three in a row. Carrboro, which is 4-6-1 overall, defeated Northwood 2-1 on Friday in Pittsboro.
Seaforth 3, Cedar Ridge 1:
Cedar Ridge’s Gavin Ryan fired in a rocket doing the second half, but it was too late as Seaforth ended a four-match winless streak to defeat the Red Wolves on Wednesday night in Hillsborough
Seaforth scored twice in the opening ten minutes. Cedar Ridge goalkeeper Erik Galunas made eleven saves on a busy night despite getting nicked up off a scramble during the second Hawk goal.
Cedar Ridge is 4-5, 0-2 in the Big 7. They will travel to Oxford to face J.F. Webb on Wednesday night.
