Panther men’s soccer is rounding into midseason form.
Having earned their first-ever win under Bryan Wilkinson Aug. 14, the new head coach and his team continued their early-season gauntlet, facing some of their toughest nonconference foes in the region. With a thrilling win over Hendersonville and another victory over Highlands, Franklin gained a valuable litmus test ahead of the start of their conference schedule.
On Aug. 21, the Panthers traveled to Asheville High School to face the powerhouse Cougars. There Asheville controlled possession early on, creating several goal-scoring chances but being thwarted by Franklin’s defense. In the 33rd minute Asheville finally broke through, winning a free kick near midfield and finding an attacker near Franklin’s goal for a tap-in score. The Cougars defended their lead until the half.
Asheville struck again just 11 seconds after the break, sending a high lob pass 60 yards toward Franklin’s goal and once again finding a teammate to double their lead. Asheville scored again off a corner kick five minutes later and defended their 3-0 lead to the final whistle.
On Aug. 27, the Panthers returned to Macon Middle School for another difficult match with Hendersonville. Both sides looked evenly matched early on, trading chances back and forth but failing to find the net.
In the 16th minute Franklin won a throw-in deep inside the Bearcat half, where right back Cameron Lyons heaved the ball into their 18-yard box. There disaster struck Hendersonville, when they accidentally headed the ball into the net for an own goal.
Franklin defended their lead until the final minutes of the half, when a Panther received a red card for a particularly physical challenge. Despite being forced to play with just 10 men, Franklin escaped the half still up 1-0.
Hendersonville returned the favor shortly after the break, committing a late slide tackle on Panther left back Wyatt Parlier. The foul earned the Bearcats a red card of their own, creating a rare 10-versus-10 match.
In the 59th minute Franklin won another throw-in near the Bearcat goal, and again sent Lyons to heave the ball into the box. There Hendersonville had a moment of déjà vu, again heading the ball into their net for a second own goal.
The Bearcats finally came to life with 15 minutes to play, winning a loose ball deep in Franklin’s half, evading multiple defenders and finding the net with a clever chip.
From there momentum swung decidedly towards Bearcats, who mounted several promising attacks in the next several minutes. With five minutes to play Hendersonville finally broke through, making an incisive run into Franklin’s half and finding the corner of the net.
Tied 2-2, the match’s final minutes grew even more intense, until junior Kevin Torres drew a foul in the Bearcat box with just 90 seconds left. With Torres unable to take the penalty kick due to injury, the Panthers turned to Pablo Odilon for the second time this season, a rare expression of trust for a freshman in such a critical moment. True to form, Odilon calmly found the back of the net for the winning goal.
“It feels amazing,” said Torres after the match of the white-knuckle win. “I’m pretty sure it’s the second time we’ve ever beaten [Hendersonville] in history, so it’s a great accomplishment for me. It was a pretty exciting game.”
“Playing a game at night, you’ve got all the friends and family here, that’s going to be the highlight of some [players’] reasons for going to school,” said Wilkinson. “To win a close game like that … it makes it fun. That’s why you coach, and that’s why you play.”
In beating Hendersonville for just the second time in program history (and first since 2022), the Panthers took another step toward joining the region’s blue-blood programs. With their second hard-fought win in as many home games, Wilkinson and Torres said the team would be better-equipped moving forward.
“It’s kind of funny because you never want to go into those situations and get a man sent off, or be 2-0 up with [15] minutes to go and then [be tied] 2-2,” said Wilkinson. “But the thing is, we try and not prepare for this game – we try and prepare for every part of the season. We told the kids at halftime, ‘We’re a man down; this could be a thing we’ve got to deal with later on,’ … It’s a battle, and there are a lot of things we’ve got to work on, but overall it was a very good result for us.”
“We’re getting a bunch of chemistry every day practicing, so I feel like we’ve got a chance to be better than last year,” said Torres.
After their thrilling win over Hendersonville, the next night the Panthers traveled to Highlands for a rematch with their in-county rivals. Having prevailed 4-2 at home Aug. 14, Franklin fell on the Highlanders once again, controlling possession in the early goings.
In the 16th minute Franklin won a corner kick in Highlands’ half, where Torres found junior Joaquin Lopez on the near side of Highlands’ box. Lopez found the far side of the net from a difficult angle for the match’s first goal.
In the 34th minute Franklin possessed the ball near midfield, and found Torres with a high lob pass deep into Highlands’ half. Torres outran defenders to the ball and beat the keeper to double Franklin’s lead.
Highlands received a chance just a minute from halftime, when Franklin committed a foul inside their own box. There goalkeeper Juan Olvera saved the initial shot, but the ball deflected back to Highlands for an easy tap-in. Franklin defended their 2-1 lead to the half.
The Panthers kept the pressure on to start the second, creating multiple chances which forced tough saves from Highlands’ keeper. After several minutes Olidon finally broke through, collecting a loose ball near the top of Highlands’ box and finding the top right corner of the net. Franklin defended their 3-1 lead to the final whistle.
After dispatching Highlands, the Panthers continued their early-season nonconference gauntlet, traveling to A.C. Reynolds after press time Sept. 2.