The Chapel Hill High School men’s soccer team saw its season come to a close in heartbreaking fashion, losing 2-1 on the road to division rivals Jordan High School on October 31 in the first round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 4A Championship Playoffs.
Junior midfielder Adam Trusky opened the scoring with a breakaway goal 20 minutes into the second half, but the Falcons netted two goals in the final two minutes of play to take the victory.
The Tigers ended their season 9-8-4, finishing third in the conference with a 7-4-1 record. The team had a home record of 5-5-2 and an away record of 4-3-2.
“Although we didn’t end the season the way we were hoping to, I was proud that we went out with a fight,” senior defender Carlos Melida said. “Hopefully, more success comes our way in future seasons, and we keep on competing for the top honors.”
The team’s roster was younger than it has been in past years, with only four seniors on the team.
“As a team, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy going into the season with a lack of veterans on the field,” Trusky said. “I think we faced this adversity pretty well. We lost a lot of games by fine margins. If luck was on our side, we could’ve looked at the playoff bracket and see us in a higher seed than what we were.”
Some notable wins for the Tigers this season included a 5-1 home win over Clayton High School on August 17 at home in their season opener; a gritty 2-1 win on the road against rivals Carrboro High School on August 31; and a triumphant 4-3 overtime win on the road against conference rivals Riverside High School on September 22.
Four Tigers won all-conference honors: juniors Dylan Barnhouse, Andy Lee, Trusky and Andrew Wolf. Both Lee and Trusky also earned all-regional honors.
Over the course of the season, head coach Jason Curtis said he saw a lot of improvement from his players.
“We had to deal with a lot of tough obstacles this season,” Curtis said. “Earlier in the year, we were getting beat by five or six goals. As we progressed through the season, we started to win games or barely lose them in overtime. The players never put their heads down when they conceded and kept going, and that’s what we look forward to keep doing for next season and beyond.”
