This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior men’s soccer forward Yurem Tapia. For the past two years, Tapia has been the leading scorer during a golden era for Orange men’s soccer. This season, Tapia has 12 goals and 15 assists and paces the team with 37 points. Among the highlights was scoring both goals off penalty kicks in a 2-0 win over Cedar Ridge. He also scored two goals as Orange rallied from three goals down to defeat South Granville 6-3 in Hillsborough on September 24. Tapia also scored the game-winning penalty kick as Orange rallied for two goals in the final five minutes to defeat South Granville 3-2 in Creedmoor. Last year, Tapia scored 19 goals as he helped the Panthers break a school record with 16 wins in a season. He scored the game-winning goal in the first state playoff game ever hosted by Orange men’s soccer, a 1-0 win in overtime over Swansboro. This year, Orange broke the school record again with 18 wins in the most successful year in program history. Orange won the Big 7 Conference championship, the first league title in the 38-year history of the program. Tapia, a co-Captain, will be remembered as one of the greatest scorers in Orange soccer history who helped the Panthers experience unprecedented success.
