Men’s Soccer: Cedar Ridge 2, Walter Williams 1: What could Cedar Ridge men’s soccer do to top last week?
They defeated the 2021 3A State Champions off a goal from Salomon Hernandez with under five minutes remaining, putting them in first place in the Central Carolina Conference. What could be better?
How about beating the two-time defending conference champions on the road?
At Memorial Stadium in Burlington, the Red Wolves got goals from senior Illah Banchenko and junior Dominic McNerney to defeat Walter Williams 2-1 on Monday night. Cedar Ridge, which has never won a conference championship in men’s soccer, remains in first place in the CCC at 5-0-1.
It was Cedar Ridge’s first win over Williams since the two became conference rivals in 2021. Coming into this season, the Bulldogs had lost just four conference games the past three years.
McNerney notched the opening goal off an assist from Babchenko. Later, Banchenko would score the game-winner in the first half off a free kick.
The Bulldogs scored with two seconds remaining in regulation. Cedar Ridge lost Hernandez, a centerback who captains the back line, with an ankle injury in the second half.
Babchenko has 14 points (three goals and eight assists) to lead the team. McNerney scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season. Sophomore goalkeeper Eric Galunas, who came two seconds away from earning his second straight clean sheet, made nine saves to earn his ninth win.
Northwood 3, Cedar Ridge 1: The Red Wolves five-game unbeaten streak came to an end against Northwood in a nonconfrence matchup on Tuesday night.
The Red Wolves were without Hernandez, which hurt their backline. McNerney scored the Red Wolves only goal with 37:23 remaining in the second half off a penalty kick.
Cedar Ridge (9-2-2) will hit the road to face Person on Monday night in Roxboro. With a win, they will become the first Cedar Ridge team to win ten games in a season since 2016, which was also the last time the Red Wolves reached the 3A State Playoffs.
Orange 0, Walter Williams 0: Orange played to a scoreless tie against the Bulldogs on Tuesday night at Orange Soccer Field. It ended the Bulldogs eight-game winning streak against the Panthers. Orange goalkeeper Finn Kelly made a save in the second overtime to keep the game tied. Orange is 3-5-2 overall, 2-2-1 in the CCC.
Orange 3, Southern Alamance 2: Traveling to Redmon Stadium in Graham, Orange scored the opening goal and held on to defeat the Patriots in its first-ever conference matchup between the Patriots and the Panthers. Daniel Romero, who scored his first goal of the season against Person last week, notched the owner for the Panthers on a marker assisted by senior Emmanuel Mil Cruz. Later, Cruz would add his second goal for Orange, who captured its second straight victory.
In the second half, Mil Cruz scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season off an assist from sophomore Yurem Tapia Mendez to put Orange ahead 2-0. After the Patriots cut Orange’s lead in half after a tally from William Clark, Tapia Mendez scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal. Heinzen Amaya added an additional goal for the Patriots for the final scoreline.
Kelly, Orange’s senior goalkeeper, made 12 saves. one shy of his season-high. In Orange’s CCC opener against Western Alamance on September 6, Kelly finished with 13 saves.
Orange clinched consecutive wins for the first time this season and still stands a fighting chance to make the 3A State playoffs for the second straight year. Currently, the Panthers are ranked #30 in the 3A East RPI rankings as of Wednesday morning following the draw against Williams. The top 32 teams make the state playoffs.
Last year, Orange reached the state playoffs for the first time since 2017, where they lost to J.H. Rose. As fate would have it, if the season ended today, Orange would travel to face Rose in the opening round.