On Saturday, October 11, 2025, the LRHS Varsity men’s soccer team played Apex Friendship High School in the Wake County Cup Final. While they battled hard, the Pride suffered a hard 1-2 loss.

“We have had some rough and frustrating games,” said Alex Tiller, senior and co-captain. 

“They were a Top 10-ranked team in the state, so we knew it was going to be a hard game,” said Evan Kizakevich, senior and co-captain. 

The Wake County Cup is an annual soccer tournament hosted in Wake County, North Carolina. The LRHS Men’s Varsity soccer team won the tournament in 2021, and they’ve been hungry for another win ever since. 

The match started off strong, with junior Colt Gidley scoring the first goal of the game around the 20-minute mark in the first half. Leesville went into halftime up 1-0.

After halftime, things got a little more complicated for the Pride. Apex Friendship tied the game 1-1 in the second half, but neither team scored again before the end of regulation play. The teams then played a double overtime–two extra 10-minute periods with a mini halftime in between–but the score remained 1-1.

The teams then entered a “golden goal” period; basically, whoever scores first wins the game. Unfortunately, that honor went to Apex Friendship, and they won the game 1-2.

While this game was disappointing for the Pride, they still have high hopes for the rest of their season, including playoffs. 

“This game and many others have shown us that we are very good defensively…if we keep building like we have all season, we will be at our best during the playoffs,” said Tiller. 

“It was a good test to go against better teams that we’ll have to face in the playoffs, so it was a nice game to have,” said Kizakevich.

Even though they took the difficult loss, the Pride Men’s soccer team has a positive outlook for the rest of their season. Catch them next Tuesday, October 21, as they take on the Enloe Eagles at home.