Four years ago, Sullivan Gaddy, Caroline Cathey and Cora Bailey were regular players for the first Orange women’s soccer team to reac the third round of the 3A State Playoffs.
Now, they’re seniors. On Monday night, they will play in the first state playoff match hosted by Orange women’s soccer in eight years.
On Friday, the Orange women’s soccer team received a #13 seed for the 3A State Playoffs. They will face #20 Southern Nash from The Big East Conference on Monday night in Hillsborough. The Lady Panthers finished the regular season in third place in the Central Conference with a 7-5 record. In its final home game of the season, Orange defeated Southern Alamance 3-2 off an overtime goal from Gaddy assisted by Cathey.
In 2022, Gaddy led the team with 13 goals as Orange defeated Harnett Central and Cape Fear in the 3A State Playoffs, its best postseason run ever. In the third round, the Lady Panthers were in a tight game at Walter Williams in Burlington before goalkeeper Abby Monteith suffered an injury early in the second half, knocking her out of the game. The Lady Dawgs wound up winning 3-2.
The last time Orange hosted a state playoff game, they lost to Jacksonville 2-0 on May 10, 2017.
This season, Gaddy has led the Lady Panthers with 25 goals with 13 assists. She had three hat tricks, including the win over Southern Alamance on April 30 where her third goal was the game-winner.
Cathey, the younger sister of former Orange lacrosse and cross country runner Alden Cathey, has 15 goals and eight assists. Bailey has scored eight goals, including two in Orange’s win over Person on May 2 in Roxboro.
The winner of Orange-Southern Nash will face the winner of #4 First Flight vs. #29 West Johnston in the second round. Orange hasn’t won a state playoff game since defeating Cape Fear in Fayetteville in 2022. Last year, the Lady Panthers lost to Eastern Alamance in the opening round.
Cedar Ridge, who finished the season with consecutive wins over Voyager Academy and Williams, also earned a spot in the 3A State Playoffs for the second year in a row. The Red Wolves received a #17 seed and travel to Richlands on Monday night. It will be the second straight year that the Wildcats and the Red Wolves have met in the opening round.
Last year, the Red Wolves won a state playoff game for the first time since 2018 when they defeated Richlands 3-1 in Hillsborough. Katie Paulakonis, in her only season with Cedar Ridge, scored two goals Celine Galla added another as the Red Wolves won under first-year head coach Sam Semerzier.
It was also the first time Cedar Ridge hosted a state playoff game since 2018.
This season, Paulakonis didn’t play shortly after she committed to Division I Bellarmine University. Sophomore Kate Finnegan stepped in and led the team with 28 goals this season. Finnegan also has 14 assists and leads the team with 70 points.
This season, Finnegan has four hat tricks. In March, she had three straight games of scoring four goals, starting with Northwood in a 9-6 win on March 3. She also scored four goals against Durham School of the Arts in a 6-2 win on March 6. On March 8, Finnegan had another four goal game in a victory over Southern Nash in Wilson.
Senior Fleury Nicholson, who has been on the varsity for four years, has scored 17 goals this season. In her career, Nicholson has scored 59 goals and 33 assists. As a junior, Nicholson scored 19 goals.
The winner of Cedar Ridge at Richlands will face the winner of #1 Western Alamance vs. #32 Triton, which will take place in Elon. Western Alamance won the Central Conference championship with an overall 18-0-1 record. They went 11-0-1 in conference play with the lone tie against Eastern Alamance.
It will be the second time in less than a week that a team to Cedar Ridge will travel to Richlands. Last Thursday, the Cedar Ridge softball team faced the Wildcats in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs.
