On the home side of Red Wolves Stadium, there are two signs that honor each of Cedar Ridge’s lacrosse teams that reached the Final Four of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs.
Every name of the 2015 Eastern Regional Championship squad is printed in the school’s burgundy colors along a white backdrop. Coached by Patrick Kavanaugh, they will forever be the first lacrosse team in Hillsborough history to play in the 3A/2A/1A State Championship game.
Going into Thursday night, they were also the last Cedar Ridge lacrosse team to win a game in the state playoffs. That fact was something that didn’t escape the attention of the 12 Red Wolves seniors on the current Cedar Ridge lacrosse team, all of whom stuck together when their sophomore season ended after just three games due to COVID-19. Last year, playing in stadiums left mostly empty due to COVID-19 protocols, the Red Wolves lost in the opening round of the state playoffs to East Chapel Hill at Dave Thaden Stadium.
The bottom line for seniors Roman Oguntoyinbo, Alex Castro, James Clayton, Josh Taylor, Holden Neal, Erickson Thole, Harrison Neal, Robert Gross, Aidan Dumain and Kellan Hepditch was that their careers wouldn’t be complete without a state playoff win.
It was that purpose that produced Cedar Ridge’s most complete performance of the season on Thursday night.
Roman Oguntoyinbo had a career-high nine goals as the Red Wolves crushed Western Alamance 18-5 at Red Wolves Stadium in the 2nd round of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. Castro added five goals as Cedar Ridge, seeded 7th, advanced to face First Flight in Kill Devil Hills on Tuesday. The Nighthawks, seeded #2, rolled past J.H. Rose 11-3 on Thursday night.
Knowing it was likely their final game at Red Wolves Stadium, all of the Cedar Ridge seniors got in on the act. Taylor started as goalkeeper in the first half before being replaced by freshman Leo Oguntoyinbo in the second half, as is the usual routine established by first-year head coach Cole Churchill. Clayton assisted on five goals, including the opener by Castro 2:21 into the game. Trost scored the final goal of the night, which just happened to be the first of his career, sending the Cedar Ridge bench into a total frenzy. Trost mimicked the celebration by soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in the end zone
“I didn’t want to have it end today,” Castro said. “I wasn’t going to let my career end today. I love these boys. I would really be down if this was the last game.”
For the second straight game, Oguntoyinbo re-established his career-high for goals. Last Thursday, he scored seven in a 8-2 win over Carrboro at Jaguars Stadium to conclude the regular season. Oguntoyinbo has 76 goals and 49 assists this season.
“Coming into this game, I knew that even though we had beaten Western twice, that the playoffs are a completely different animal,” Oguntoyinbo said. “We saw it last year when we got knocked out in the first round. For days leading up to this game, that’s all I’ve been thinking about. We knew we couldn’t let this team get an edge at all. So we came in and finished the job early.”
After Western Alamance’s Joey Leupold evened the game with a sidearm shot to force a 1-1 tie with 8:27 remaining int the first quarter, the Red Wolves reeled off ten consecutive goals. Castro notched the game-winning goal off a feed from Trost with 7:03 remaining in the first quarter. In the 10-0 run, Oguntoyinbo scored five goals, two of which were assisted by Clayton. Billy Power also scored and assisted on another Oguntoyinbo marker. To wrap up the first half, Oguntoyinbo sent a centering pass behind the night to Castro, who tucked the ball into the upper-left hand corner give Cedar Ridge an 13-2 halftime lead. Castro scored all five of his goals in the first half.
Mason Lynde also scored in the third quarter for the Red Wolves, which triggered a running clock for the remainder of the second half.
Leupold had a hat trick for the Warriors, who end the season 7-10. Sophomore Evan Kuehnel added the other two Western Alamance goals. Junior Tanner Stout had two assists.