The path through the state playoffs looks different for Orange lacrosse this year.
Unlike the past four years, the road to the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship game won’t run through Hillsborough. In fact, Orange may very well have just one home game the entire postseason.
The Panthers earned a share of its fifth consecutive conference championship with a 14-3 win over Cedar Ridge last Monday at Auman Stadium. Sophomore Owen Wimsatt scored four goals while junior Brandon Williams had a hat trick.
However, Orange wound up with the #2 seed out of the Mid-Carolina Conference after tying with Seaforth for first place. The two teams split the season series with Seaforth beating Orange on March 15, ending the Panthers 47-game conference regular season winning streak. The Panthers got some revenge with a 10-8 win over the Hawks in Pittsboro on April 15.
There was plenty of deliberation about how a tiebreaker would play out between the Orange and Seaforth coaching staffs, along with officials from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. Ultimately, it was determined that the team with the higher RPI would earn the top seed. Seaforth had the higher RPI by two-hundredths-of-a-point, which made all the difference in the world. The Hawks earned the #3 seed in the East Region and will face Havelock on Friday night.
Orange will take on Carrboro at Auman Stadium tonight (Friday).
Cedar Ridge reached the state playoffs and earned a #12 seed. The Red Wolves will journey to Durham to face Voyager Academy, the champions of the Triangle North Conference.
Cedar Ridge (9-9) hasn’t faced Voyager Academy this season.
The Red Wolves earned a playoff spot after winning five of its last seven games. In its final home game of the year against Western Alamance, junior Joshua Hart scored four goals and registered three assists as the Red Wolves won 17-5. Juniors Grant Thole and Marc Reid each added three goals as the Red Wolves swept the season series from the Warriors.
Hart leads the team with 44 goals. Thole has 20 goals and ten assists as the Red Wolves finished the Mid-Carolina portion of its schedule 8-8.
The winner of Cedar Ridge-Voyager will face the winner of Union Pines vs. Northwood. Cedar Ridge’s last win in the state playoffs came against Western Alamance in 2021.
Orange will face Carrboro for the second time this season. On April 21, the Jaguars delivered a test to the Panthers. Carrboro led Orange 5-3 going into the fourth quarter, but the Panthers outscored the Jagaurs 6-1 in the final 12 minutes to emerge with a 9-6 victory.
Junior Brett Clark, Orange’s leading scorer, registered the game-tying goal with 10:07 remaining. Dylan Herndon scored the game-winning goal as the Panthers scored four times in the opening 2:45 of the fourth quarter. Gray Crabtree, Matthew Macneir and Wimsatt also scored late.
Sophomore Jackson Runkle finished with eleven saves, including some clutch plays in the final minutes.
With a win on Friday, Orange would clinch its 2nd lifetime 20-win season. Last year, the Panthers finished 24-3 overall en route to its first Eastern Regional championship in program history.
The Panthers have gone about the season trying to replace Connor Kruse, the greatest player in school history who is now a freshman at Lenoir-Rhyne. Kruse helped the Panthers to four straight outright conference championships, 12 state playoff wins and an appearance in the 3A/2A/1A State Championship game. He scored a school record 242 goals and 532 points.
Clark leads the team with 63 goals and 35 assists. Wimsatt, who was once a longstick midfielder, is second on the squad with 49 goals.
If Orange wins on Friday night, they will likely head to Seaforth for a final matchup with the Hawks on Tuesday. Seaforth will face Havelock on Friday night in Pittsboro.
