It may not have looked like a perfect night for Orange women’s soccer, but it sure felt that way.
The rain that fell steadily throughout Monday would have made it a gloomy atmosphere on many occasions, but this was the first home playoff game for Orange women’s soccer in eight years.
The Orange lacrosse team made sure a proper playoff atmosphere was in place. As the rain fell at opening whistle, the players stood in the bleachers and chanted like it was El Classico between Real Madrid and Barcelona playing on a pitch in Hillsborough.
Quite possibly, it was the final home game for a senior class that has taken Orange women’s soccer to places they’ve never reached. For Sullivan Gaddy, she may have saved the best of her accomplished career for last.
Gaddy, Orange’s leading scorer, scored a season-high five goals as the Lady Panthers rolled past Southern Nash 7-0 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. It was Orange’s first home state playoff win since 2015, when they defeated Cleveland in the second round.
The Lady Panthers improved to 12-7 and will travel to Kill Devil Hills to face First Flight, the champions of the Northeastern Coastal Conference, in the second round on Thursday. The Nighthawks defeated West Johnston 5-0 in the opening round on Monday.
Orange, the #13 seed in the East Region, won its first state playoff game since they defeated Cape Fear in the second round of the 2022 State Playoffs. Gaddy, who was a freshman on that night three years ago, scored a goal against the Colts in Fayetteville.
It was Gaddy’s fourth hat trick of the season. She now has 32 goals on the season. Gaddy has scored 52 goals since the start of her junior year.
Gaddy came out of the game with ten minutes remaining to see a freshman, Samantha Gover, score her first playoff goal assisted by Molly Kruse. Gaddy cheered the loudest as Gover achieved the milestone on a soggy field.
“It’s just a full circle,” Gaddy said. “I just stood over there the last few minutes and thought how amazing this was. We deserve everything we did tonight. As for me, I played my heart out on the field and it made it worth it.”
On Monday night, Gaddy notched the game-winning goal in the 19th minute off an assist from her classmate, Cora Bailey. Gaddy added another goal off a feed from Ella McCay to make it 2-0 in the first half.
“It’s so awesome to watch them grow as players,” said Orange head coach Jacki Mignosa, who was coaching the junior varsity team the last time Orange won a home state playoff game. “Every year, we’ve said our goal is to have a home playoff game. This is the first year we’ve done it. To have the playoff win at home is just icing on the cake. It was so awesome the lacrosse players would show up like that.”
McCay would assist on another goal assisted by senior Caroline Cathey. Gaddy completed the hat trick to put the Lady Panthers ahead 4-0. Her fourth goal was assisted by Lucy Mignosa. Fittingly, Bailey found Gaddy for her fifth goal to put the Lady Panthers ahead 6-0.
First Flight is 19-2 with only one loss to a team from the state of North Carolina. Orange will arrive to Kill Devil Hills battle tested. The top two teams in the 3A East Region RPI rankings are Western Alamance and Eastern Alamance, both conference rivals of Orange.
“I think our conference is one of the strongest in the state,” Mignosa said. “It definitely prepares us wherever we go, however far we go.”