The Orange lacrosse team defeated Northwood 11-8 on March 20 at Auman Stadium to take sole possession of first place in the Mid-Carolina Conference. The Panthers did it with defense. After the Chargers took a 3-2 lead, the defensive group of Nick Cardone, Braden Hunt, Alden Cathey and Josiah Tisdale held the Chargers to just three goals in the final 17:51. It was Orange’s 24th consecutive conference win. Northwood didn’t score for the final 12:57 of the first half mainly because of stellar defensive work by Cardone, Hunt, Tisdale and Cathey, along with the works of freshman Matthew Macneir on faceoffs. Freshman Brett Clark, sophomore Kale Womble and senior Seth Hall also played on defensive in the second half. Orange will start the second half of the season on Monday night with a trip to Eastern Alamance. They will travel to Walter Williams on Tuesday, they head to Jordan on Thursday. The Panthers are 9-2 with both losses coming to 4A squads Green Level and Wilmington Laney. They’re looking for their 3rd consecutive conference championship while also returning to the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship game for the second straight year.