Correction: Inter-Squad Scrimmage Monday, 4pm

Apologies for the mix-up, but due to regulations, we can no longer scrimmage another school once the season has begun.  Therefore, we will have an inter-squad scrimmage this afternoon during regular practice time, from 4:15-6:15 pm.  Thank you for understanding.

Friendly Scrimmage vs. Cedar Ridge at 6pm on Monday, August 29th!

The OHS JV Men's Soccer Team will be scrimmaging the Cedar Ridge High School JV Men's Soccer Team at 6pm at home on Monday.  Players should be ready to begin warming up at 5pm.  A classroom will be available for players to work on homework, study, or go over soccer plays with Coach Hunter from 4-5pm on Monday.

Feel free to come out to this free and friendly scrimmage!

*Note: If any parents would like to volunteer to help officiate the center or the sidelines, please let Coach Hunter know.

Both Games vs. Graham cancelled (Weds., August 24th and Monday, August 29th)

Unfortunately, both games against Graham High School have been cancelled due to the fact that Graham does not have a JV team this year.  The JV coaches are trying to arrange a scrimmage between now and the next game, Wednesday, August 31st, against Eastern Alamance and will be sure to keep you posted as that progresses.  The team will run through multiple things at practice between now and then, including getting wide, controlled dribbling at speed, finishing, and winning balls out of the air on the run.  The team will also taper fitness, conditioning heavily Thursday and Friday and lightening conditioning into early next week.  All players should bring running shoes to practice on Friday.

All practices from now on will run from 4-6 pm.

The Panthers recognized the importance of playing until the last whistle was blown in a 3-2 loss Monday night against Cedar Ridge

Coming out strong and scoring the first goal of the game against cross-town opponents Cedar Ridge certainly started the Panthers off with an excited and confident tone on Monday night.  Brandon Clark (34, shown dribbling at right) had an excellent goal where he dribbled past a defender and then shot the ball into the far-side of the goal to put the Panthers in the lead.  However, the Panthers let up slightly afterwards, possibly due to premature confidence of the win.  Bowen Collins was moved to an attacking position in the hopes of pulling the team ahead even further, but his presence on defense was sorely missed as Cedar Ridge notched two quick goals before the close of the half.

The Panthers came back in the second half refusing to settle for a loss, and battled hard for possession of the ball.  Eli Lockwood had another great game, just barely missing a goal by less than a foot, Trevor Samsa had multiple close calls, including one free kick that soared just to the right of the frame of the goal, and Bowen Collins had multiple chances up top.  RJ Jackson won many 50/50 balls in the center and Gerardo Figueroa tried his hand at an outside midfield position. The defense stayed tight in the back with Tyler Taubenheim, Hector Paredes, Morgan Collins, and Finn Hubbs holding Cedar Ridge offsides a total of six times and making tough tackles and steals throughout the game.  The defensive players are coming together exceptionally and playing with much more quickness, agility, and intention.   

About 20 minutes into the second half, Brandon Clark sent a ball soaring towards the goal after receiving a throw-in from Gerardo Figueroa that inched over the top of the 6'1" goalie's hands (Brandon is shown below, watching the ball as it approaches the goal, and after, as it hits the back of the net). 

The Panthers celebrated jubilantly but quickly remembered that with only about 20 minutes left, the score was still a tie.  The Orange High JV Men's team ended up outshooting Cedar Ridge 14-8, having 3 more corner kicks than their opponent, and dominating possession of the rest of the game, but with 14 minutes left, Cedar Ridge claimed their third goal with a shot low and to the bottom left corner.  Brad Barbee, with his vision obstructed due to all of the players in front of him, couldn't get to the ball in time before it hit the goal.  Brad had 8 crucial saves throughout the game. 

The Panthers walked away with their heads up, knowing that they played a great game of soccer.

There were two Players of the Game, one offensive and one defensive.  Brandon Clark showed flashy moves while dribbling through the Cedar Ridge players and a knack for finding the goal (twice!) on Monday night, and the coaches are excited to see more of him at forward throughout the season.  Morgan Collins, shown right dribbling past two defenders, has come to be a star outside defender this year.  His decision-making is precise and fast, sometimes playing the ball over the top and sometimes passing wide to the outside.  His tenacity and sheer refusal to get beaten by another team's forward truly makes him a great natural defender.  His free-kicks into the forwards have come close to being assists on goals, and the coaches have no doubt that one game, one of those kicks will turn out to be exactly that.  Congratulations to both Brandon and Morgan; great games!

The Panthers had a hard but important practice Tuesday (learning give-and-go's, overlap passes, the urgency of marking up, and shooting) and head into tonight's game against Graham ready to go.  The game is at home at 5 pm.  We hope to see you there!

*Note: Players will be sent to the Orange High School Open House in shifts, starting at 4:30.

Meet the JV Men's Soccer Staff!

The JV Men's Soccer Team is being led by a group of very excited and dedicated coaches this season.  Along with Varsity Coaches Mark Jagentenfl and Palmer Bowman, Coach Hunter is joined by Jonathan Whitford (Asst. JV Coach, Goalkeeping Coach) and Katie Bumgarner (Student Manager, Student Trainer) for the 2011 season.  Please feel free to speak with any of the coaches at anytime after games or practices.

Coach Whitford (below left) joins the program as an avid soccer enthusiast and player.  Whitford has put in many years working for Eurosport/Soccer Endeavors in Hillsborough and has picked up a pair of sharp eyes for game details and intricacies.  His assistance in planning strategy and game lineups will be greatly valued throughout the season.  Coach Whitford also serves as the Varsity and JV goalkeeping coach, and has been working with all of the Orange High goalkeepers since the beginning of the season.  Much progress can already be seen as a result of Coach Whitford's hard work.

Katie Bumgarner ("Bumm," above right) joins the Men's Soccer Program as an Orange High School Senior.  She is a member of the OHS Varsity Women's Soccer team and has played soccer for nine years.  She plans to attend Gardner Webb for Athletic Training and is excited to work both with Coach King (Orange High Athletic Trainer) as well as both Men's teams throughout the season.  You will probably see her by the bench during games taking many of the game stats throughout the season.

Panthers close out first week with a late-game 2-0 loss against Bartlett Yancey

Two late-game goals were enough to send the Panthers home tired and frustrated Thursday evening against opponent Bartlett Yancey.  Despite the addition of new defensive player Finn Hubbs (pictured left), and great saves by both goalkeepers (Daniel Allred and Brad Barbee), the Orange High Men's defensive line was worn thin after multiple half-field sprints back towards the goal in the second half.  The defense plans to work on a staggered flat-back 4 today in practice in order to better anticipate the long balls over the top and hopefully save some of the players from having to make those desperate defensive sprints.  Both goalkeepers again showed great composure on the field.

A few lineup changes are still in the works, with Bowen Collins trying out a forward position, Morgan Collins giving a go at holding center midfield, and Gerardo Figueroa developing a 2-touch game as a center midfielder.  The coaches were proud of the progress this week--the team has shown much improvement, both technically as well as in their amount of hustle.  If the Panthers keep up their desire to play hard for a win and the element of fight in their level of play, it is certain that a victory is just around the corner.

The Player of the Game was RJ Jackson (pictured dribbling right and heading below left), who is great with the ball at his feet and is hungry for solid defensive steals.  He took some advice from the coaches to play his passes early and worked it immediately into his play, giving the Panthers some more offensive attacks up the sidelines.  RJ is a threat as both a forward and a midfielder, and his level of toughness was unmatched last night.

The Panthers head into one more practice this week with a few things in mind: less dribbling and earlier passes, keeping the traps closer to their bodies, staggering the defensive line against speedy opponents, set pieces (corner kicks, goal kicks, etc.), and, last but not least, fitness.  The team faces cross-town opponents Cedar Ridge at home on Monday.  Please join us!

Keep up the hard work, gentlemen.

A big thanks to Mary Driebeek, local photographer, for some great shots of the game!

Panthers fall to Northern Durham in close 1-0 game

The JV Men's Soccer Team fought a good battle against Northern Durham tonight, putting the pressure on early.  They focused on getting the defense up quickly and the ball out wide.  The defensive strategy worked, pulling ten offsides calls against Northern Durham and preventing the Panthers from having to make long runs back towards their own goal.  Despite the high temperatures, the Panthers played hard and with great tenacity.  The team has already made great progress on winning 50/50 balls and making hard tackles, especially in the center of the field.  Adding Morgan Collins as a central midfielder helped the Panthers gain control and then distribute the ball to the outside midfielders, Austin Goehring and Eli Lockwood, who each played excellent games both offensively and defensively.

The team as a whole showed much improvement--tactically with Bowen Collins and Hector Paredes moving the defensive players up quickly, defensively with Chris Lamay and RJ Jackson making solid defensive tackles, and technically with Trevor Samsa, Gerardo Figueroa, and Brandon Clark dribbling through Northern Durham players with great confidence.  Despite many chances, the Panthers struggled to finish with a goal.  But, as is the case with soccer, sometimes you can play a great game (take many shots, control the game) and still come out with a loss.

Brad Barbee played an excellent game, notching 11 more saves, and only allowing one goal off of a corner kick late into the second half.

The Player of the Game was newcomer Eli Lockwood (pictured right), whose speed, awareness, and aggressiveness created multiple opportunities along the right flank.  Lockwood persisted on any ball that was in his zone, recovering almost all of them and then sending the ball up to a forward along the line.  His hustle and determination were excellent, and the quickness of his decision-making has already vastly improved.  The coaches look forward to more steadfast playing from Lockwood in future games.

The Panthers have one more game this week on Thursday against Bartlett Yancey at home at 5 pm, and they are looking for their first big win.

Panthers face tough loss in Home Opener to Eastern Alamance, 3-1

Despite the stands being packed for the first Home Game on Monday night, the Panthers had a hard time finding the back of the net against Eastern Alamance.  Outshot 16-10, the JV Orange High squad fought hard to keep the score 3-1.

Trevor Samsa (45) came out hard after halftime and scored 8 minutes into the second half, sending a ball soaring across the front of the goal from the right side and hitting the left side-netting.  The coaches anticipate many more scoring opportunities from Samsa in future games.

The Panther defense was solid despite having learned and practiced in the new flat-back 4-4-2 formation only a few times before Monday's game.  Having now played at game-speed, the defensive players know exactly how to hone their shape and formation on the field.  Tough battles were played in the back by all four defenders: Chris Lamay, Hector Paredes, Bowen Collins, and Morgan Collins.

The Player of the Game, however, was without doubt the goalkeeper Brad Barbee (pictured left), who entered the game mid-way through the first half.  Brad made nine superb saves, from coming far out of the box in the first half to make a big kick out of the back, to sliding a player and stopping him late in the second half on a 1v1 breakaway, to punching a shot over the bar that was too high to catch off of a corner kick.  Brad's confidence and composure on the field certainly made him stand out as a player with a lot of skill and potential this season.  He will work throughout the season with the Goalkeeper coach, Jonathan Whitford, to continue to improve even more.  Great game, Brad!

The team heads into one practice Tuesday before back-to-back games Wednesday (Away) and Thursday (Home) against Northern Durham and Bartlett Yancey, respectively.  The Panthers look forward to welcoming Finn Hubbs, Joey Ricca and Tyler Taubenheim to the roster on Wednesday.

First Home Game: Monday, August 15th vs. Eastern Alamance

Parents, friends, and family, please join us at the Orange High School soccer field at 5 pm for our first game against Eastern Alamance High School!

Coach Hunter: Coaching Philosophy

As a new coach for Orange High school, I thought that it might be important for you to get to know me and my opinions in regards to coaching soccer.  I have been coaching soccer for 6 years, 2 of those during college at a local YMCA and 4 of them at the high school where I was also an Earth Science teacher in New York City.  I have also worked multiple soccer camps and tried throughout my time coaching to pick up the best practices of different coaches in order to fuse them with my own and be the best coach that I can be.  I love coaching.  During the season, I spend a huge amount of time thinking about soccer, how to make the team better, how to improve our game, how to boost individual skill level, build confidence, develop mental toughness, and encourage teamwork.  Obviously the skills that are obtained in any athletic arena can be beneficial to one’s life beyond athletics, and that, above winning and losing, is the underlying goal of being on a team.  You hone your ability to handle all types of situations through athletics, and soccer is no exception to that.

First and foremost, I believe that academics are the most important part of your high school and college experience.  While you may love soccer and maybe even plan on playing in college or beyond, you must prepare yourself for other aspects of life.  You should start to take notice of which classes are interesting to you now—do you prefer Math or English?—start to pay attention.  The academic focus that you choose in your future should be aligned with your classroom passions, not just with soccer.  If you notice that you particularly like Biology, seriously consider that.  Might you want to be a science major in college?  And if so, do you like Marine Science or do you prefer Astronomy?  Be self-critical, and be capable of recognizing what you like and what you don’t.  Academic success is one of my top priorities and goals for this team, and I hope that you will come to recognize its importance to our overall success.  Being a student-athlete means that you are capable of prioritizing, managing your time, and being dedicated not only to soccer but to your academic progress as well.  I am more than willing to provide my student-athletes with as much academic help as they need.  We will have study practices during the season and I will track your grades throughout the season.  If I notice that you are falling behind in a course, I may ask you to miss a practice or a game to attend tutoring or to catch up on missing work.  I believe that if you make academics a priority, then you are more likely to be successful in soccer as well as in your future career paths.

In terms of soccer, what I most appreciate about the sport is how creative it can be.  There are no time-outs.  There are very few set plays.  Aside from a few mid-play instructions from the sidelines (something that after the first few games, I strongly prefer not to do), the decisions made on the field are not dictated by your coach.  You, as the players, make all of the decisions.  I can teach you the basic skills and show you some of the strategies frequently utilized by successful teams, but the majority of what happens on the field will come from your ability to make smart decisions… and more importantly, your ability to make smart decisions quickly.  The speed at which you think on the field during soccer is essential to your success.  If you’ve ever watched Lionel Messi slalom-dribble through 4 defenders as if he already mapped out his entire route, you know exactly what I mean.  He moves through other players seemingly two- and three-plays ahead of them.  He is always thinking and reading the game before it even happens.  I believe that a player should be provided the opportunity to make their own decisions, both good and bad.  If I try to control all of your decision-making, there certainly would be less risk in the game: you would play safe and you would play just as I instructed you.  But this is not the point of the game of soccer.  The beautiful thing about soccer is the spectacular plays that you didn’t even know that you were capable of making, the brilliant, split-second decisions that are entirely and completely your own, and the realization that you can read the game without anyone telling you what you’re looking for.  Therefore, I try to provide you, as players, with situational recommendations during practices and maybe even in games, but I absolutely insist that you make your own decisions.   Take chances.  Mess up.  Try to take on a defender and get stuffed.  Hopefully the next time you take on that same defender, you’ll know exactly how to correct your move to get around them.  I will provide feedback (both positive and negative) in an attempt to hone this decision-making skill throughout the season, but I expect that you will also challenge yourself to get better at it own your own.  In life, you will be responsible for all of your own decisions, good and bad, and there is no better place to start learning that than on the field.

Another principle that I greatly value is your desire to win.  This is reflected throughout the entire season, not just in games.  You must practice harder than you play in your games.  You must train on your mental and physical edge so as to re-create game-like situations during practice.  When we do coervers in practice, you should be on the brink of falling over with every cut that you make simply because you are moving almost too fast to balance yourself.  Be competitive.  Know that when you are tested, that you have trained hard, you have worked through challenges, you have experienced pain and hardship, and that you deserve to win.  Obtaining this mental strength is no small feat in athletics.  Mental toughness is a trained habit that is gained through years of experience.  Start now.  If you train at your best every day, with a desire to win and to consistently perform at your peak level, over time, you will arrive where you want to be.

As you know by now, your individual and team progress will be charted throughout the season with weekly and monthly Player Evaluations.  These evaluations determine your playing time and your positions on the field.  Competition should drive your performance in these assessments.  You are competing to outscore everyone else on the team, and therefore guarantee your starting position on the team.  Although during games we are a team that is working together, during practice we are a team that is furiously competing with each other.  How hard you play in practice will make both you and your teammates better soccer players and more competitive athletes.  Practice harder than you play in games—push yourself to score higher on every single assessment as the season progresses.  Practices will be demanding, and your competitive focus will be essential to your development.  It is essential to recognize that individual and team skill can be maximized only through competition.

While a major focus is on individual development at the JV level, this is not to say that I am only focused on the individual.  As a team, we are not just the sum of our parts—I hope that we will be a cohesive unit of dedicated, committed, hard-working individuals that together comprise a successful team.  If one player is slacking off or skipping practice, the whole team will suffer.  Understand your effect on others and act accordingly to that responsibility.  Always put the team first.

I want our ultimate goal this season to be that we perform at our highest level, both as individuals and as a team.  This will take great efforts and extreme focus on both my and your parts every day.  I will make that commitment to you.  I hope that you will do the same.  In doing so, I anticipate great successes both on and off of the field.

I am always open to suggestions and would love your input.  Feel free to speak with me about your opinions regarding the season, and I have no doubts that both our academic and athletic success is just around the corner.