This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is men’s soccer forward John Gomez. This week, Gomez was named the Big 7 Conference Offensive Player of the Year after he led Orange with 15 goals. It helped Orange to the most successful season in the 38 year history of the program. On October 29, Gomez scored the second hat trick of his career in a 3-1 win over Seaforth in Pittsboro. The results sewed up the first conference championship ever in the history of Orange soccer. On October 27, Gomez scored a hat trick in a 6-0 win over J.F. Webb in Oxford. During the opening round of the state playoffs, Gomez scored a goal as the Panthers defeated Seaforth 3-1 in Hillsborough. It was just the second home playoff game in Orange men’s soccer history. Gomez scored his first goal of the season in a 4-0 win at Eastern Alamance on August 18. On October 9, he scored the first brace of his career in Orange’s 6-1 win against Webb in Hillsborough. Gomez scored eleven goals in October, which pushed the Panthers to a championship run. His spark offensively will be remembered as a highlight during the greatest season in Orange men’s soccer history where the team set a program record with 18 wins.
