Orange Men’s Lacrosse

DURHAM–George Benson can get used to Durham.

A resident of costal North Carolina, Benson took a joyous bus ride from Durham County Stadium to Carteret County on May 30 when his Croatan Cougars won the N.C. High School Athletic Association Men’s Lacrosse 3A/2A/1A State Championship. The Cougars ended the three-year dynasty of Lake Norman Charter 13-12 when Dain Sparks scored the game-winning goal with 20 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

It was the Cougars first state title in men’s lacrosse.

Five days later, Benson was back in Durham coaching a team that would provide another dramatic win. Once again, a Cougar would come up big in the clutch.

David Contreras scored with 1:35 remaining in regulation to lead the White squad over the Blue squad 14-13 to win the Bull City All-Star Cullen Classic for Cancer Men’s Lacrosse game at Koskinen Stadium inside Duke University last Wednesday. Trailing 13-11 with five minutes remaining, the White squad scored three unanswered goals to earn the victory.

Cullen Trent of Willow Spring High started the White squad rally with an overhand goal with 3:08 remaining in the fourth quarter. Exactly one minute later, Cody Keller of First Flight tied the game.

Croatan’s Graham Myers, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the State Championship game, earned the win in net.

Croatan’s Drew DeGeorge, who had a goal and three assists against Lake Norman Charter, played against his usual teammates on the Blue Squad.

“They got to compete against each other a little bit,” Benson said. “It was nice to see them out there running with some high-caliber players. What a great event this is and it’s for a great cause.”

The Bull City All-Star Game is a doubleheader of men’s and women’s games contested annually at Koskinen Stadium. It’s a benefit for the Tony Cullen Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Duke Cancer Institute. This year, the game donated $17,000 to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association to create more scholarships during a presentation between the two games.

Both of the Most Valuable Players in the men’s game came from the Blue Squad. Justin Conly of Cardinal Gibbons, who finished with one goal and four assists, was named the offensive MVP. Goalkeeper Wesley Little of Pinecrest was the Defensive MVP. Little came away with 13 saves.

Myers was presented the Tony Cullen Scholarship.

Tony Cullen played lacrosse at Duke for three seasons and led the Atlantic Coast Conference in total points in 1978 and 1979. He served nine seasons as the Blue Devils head coach. Afterwards, he started a successful communications company while serving as a college official for 12 years. He was part of the inaugural class of the North Carolina Lacrosse Hall of Fame in April 2002. A month later, he died after an extended battle with cancer.

Evan Friend of Cardinal Gibbons scored a hat trick in the opening quarter for the Blue team, which led 6-3 at the end of the first 15 minutes.

The White squad scored four straight goals in a span of 2:52 to tie the game in the second quarter. Croatan’s Matej Roth, Carrboro’s Leland Robinson, East Chapel Hill’s Griffin Galloway and Zach Kerner all scored for the White squad. Cameron Exley of Seaforth, also suiting up for the White team, tied the game off an assist from Green Level’s Harrison Murray with :24 remaining in the first half to give the White squad a 9-8 lead going into halftime.

Overall, there were nine ties in the men’s game.

Brower Evenhouse of Athens Drive put the Blues ahead with 13:06 remaining in the fourth quarter. Robert Saums of Northwest Guilford, who finished with a hat trick, put the Blue squad ahead 13-11 off a pass from Durham Academy’s Merritt Schultz.

Robert Crawford of Apex played goalkeeper for the White squad in the first and third quarters. Jack Altman of Wakefield played goalkeeper for the Blue team.

“I like playing in Durham,” Benson said with a wide smile on his face. “I’ll have to buy some lottery tickets before I go home.”

In the women’s game, the Blue Squad won 17-16. The offensive MVP was Lexi Mullahy of Cardinal Gibbons, who is going to play at the University of Michigan. Mullahy was also the MVP for Gibbons when they defeated Weddington to win the 4A State Championship on May 31.

Millbrook goalkeeper Allyson Gouveia, playing for the White Squad, was the defensive MVP. Laken Wright of Willow Spring scored the game-winning goal off a free position shot with :47 remaining.

Ashton Beale of Chapel Hill tied the game for the White team with 5:00 remaining off a pass from Cuthbertson’s Olivia Brooks.

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The Orange lacrosse team has won 14 state playoff games since 2021. Last week, the Panthers opened the 2025 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs with a 11-7 win over Carrboro. Brett Clark scored the Panthers final four goals. Orange started the game with a 10-3 run. In his final game at Auman Stadium, senior longstick defensemen Kale Womble had several interceptions of Jaguars passes which led to Orange transition opportunities. Womble is second on the team with 31 turnovers created. He has 52 ground balls. Sophomore goalkeeper Jackson Runkle only allowed four goals in the final 36 minutes of the game and earned another win in net. Junior Matthew Macneir has been a starter on the varsity team since his freshman year. Against the Jaguars, he scored two goals. Sophomore Jackson Eakes leads the team with 98 ground balls. Going into the Carrboro game, Eakes has won 228 face-offs and has provided an important spark plug for the Panthers offense. On Tuesday night, the Panthers won at Seaforth to advance to the state quarterfinals for the fifth straight year. For the third time in four years, Orange will face First Flight in the state playoffs. It will be the Panthers first-ever trip to Kill Devil Hills. In 2022, First Flight defeated Orange to win the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship. In 2023, Orange gained revenge with a win over the Nighthawks during the state quarterfinals in Hillsborough.

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The Orange lacrosse team has won 14 state playoff games since 2021. Last week, the Panthers opened the 2025 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs with a 11-7 win over Carrboro. Brett Clark scored the Panthers final four goals. Orange started the game with a 10-3 run.

Photo by Abigail Pfeiffenberger

PITTSBORO–It’s May and the Orange Panthers are the best lacrosse team in their conference again.

Yet Orange’s win at Seaforth on Tuesday night in the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs felt different. It wasn’t the domination that the Panthers had established against its Mid-Carolina Conference rivals the past four years.

In fact, Orange went into Tuesday’s game knowing it probably wouldn’t be.

Last year, Orange swept the season series from Seaforth by a combined score of 39-9. Panther coach Chandler Zirkle played his junior varsity players in the second half of both games to rest his starters.

As Seaforth has quickly established itself across the athletic landscape in its brief history, things changed very quickly.

In March, the Hawks ended Orange’s 47-game conference regular season winning streak–in Hillsborough. They tied the Panthers for the Mid-Carolina Conference championship.

For the first time since 2019, Orange had to play a third round state playoff game on the road on Tuesday night. After a shaky start, Orange’s depth and a spectacular effort from its sophomore goalkeeper paved the way to its fifth consecutive trip to the state quarterfinals.

Orange sophomore Owen Wimsatt scored four goals while Jackson Runkle made 16 saves as the Panthers defeated Seaforth 10-8 at Hawks Stadium. Gray Crabtree added three goals, his third hat trick of the year.

“I think we have some really committed kids,” said Orange head coach Chandler Zirkle said. “Owen was phenomenal in the offseason. He has already been voted one of our offseason captains for next year as a junior, which was incredible. There are only three players we’ve ever had voted as junior captains. The other two were Connor Kruse and Jake Wimsatt.”

The Panthers advance to face First Flight in the state quarterfinals in Kill Devil Hills on Friday night.

It was Orange’s first road win in the state playoffs since 2019 when they defeated Northside-Jacksonville, the very first postseason win for Zirkle.

Sophomore Jackson Eakes and longstick midfielder Logan Horn took turns at the face-off circle. They combined for eight wins, six from Eakes, which triggered an Orange comeback.

“With have a jangle of Jacksons on our team and they all played great tonight,” Zirkle said. “It comes down to getting the ball and getting shots. It’s the key to the game.”

Orange’s defense held Seaforth’s leading scorer, junior Ivan Grimes, without a goal for just the second time this season. Senior longstick defensemen Kale Womble was assigned on Grimes the whole game.

Nonetheless, Seaforth stormed out to a 4-1 lead in the opening quarter. The Hawks’ Cameron Exley, in his final game, scored the opener off a feed from Grimes. After Orange’s Brandon Williams tied the game courtesy of a pass from Wimsatt. The Hawks scored three unanswered goals. Tyler Watkins put the Hawks ahead on a man-advantage goal following a slashing penalty on Orange. Jackson Powell and Carter Kearny added goals to put Seaforth ahead.

The momentum changed during the first quarter break when Seaforth’s Liam McCann was penalized for an illegal stick. Orange scored two man-advantage goals in the opening minutes of the second quarter from Matthew Macneir and Drew Jouannet. It triggered a 5-0 Panther run in the second quarter. Wimsatt took a pass from Williams and scored from point-blank range to tie the game with 9:09 remaining in the first half. Crabtree put Orange ahead for good off an assist from Holden Ray. Wimsatt added insurance with his second goal assisted by Macneir as the Panthers went into the locker room leading 6-4.

Seaforth’s Connor Yalch make an incredible dodge to set up Exley’s second and final goal with 8:43 remaining in the second half. It broke a 18 minute goalless stretch for the Hawks.

Play grew more frantic as the second half continued. After Tyler Watkins was hit with a slashing penalty, Wimsatt completed his hat trick after accepting a pass from Macneir to put Orange ahead 7-5.

Seaforth countered with its own man-up goal scored by Watkins off a pass from Oscar Ditter. As time ran out in the third quarter, Grimes unleashed a shot that bounced off the crossbar. Some Seaforth fans thought it crossed the goal line, but it was ruled no goal and Orange maintained a 7-6 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Orange completed a successful clear to start the fourth quarter. Senior Aidan Monteith took a pass at midfield and ran 45 yards unchecked until he stopped and fired in a shot past Seaforth goalkeeper Finn Prospero to increase the Orange lead to 8-6 with 11:14 remaining. Crabtree added a crucial goal with 9;15 remaining. Orange’s leading scorer, Brett Clark, registered his first point of the night assisting on a goal from Wimsatt to make it 10-6, the largest lead of the night.

It appeared that Clark scored a goal that would put Orange ahead 11-7 in the final two minutes. It had already been registered on the Seaforth scoreboard, but a late crease violation was called against Clark. Seaforth immediately shot up the field, leading to a goal from Yalch

Seaforth won the subsequent face-off but Runkle made another crucial save that helped Ray and Clark run out the clock.

For the fifth year in a row, the Orange lacrosse team has reached the state quarterfinals of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. On Tuesday night, the Panthers held off Seaforth 10-8 in the third and final meeting between the Mid-Carolina Conference rivals. It was the Panthers’ second win against the Hawks in Pittsboro this season. After Seaforth scored four goals in the opening quarter, the Hawks were held to four goals in the final 36 minutes of regulation. Goalkeeper Jackson Runkle made 16 saves and collected four ground balls to earn another win in net. Senior long-stick defensemen Drew Jouannet held Seaforth’s leading scorer, Cameron Exley, to two goals Exley finished the season averaging 3.5 goals per game. Jouannet, who has committed to play at Lincoln Memorial College, and Kale Womble held the Hawks to its lowest amount of goals against a conference rival this year. Aidan Monteith scored a crucial goal on a 45-yard run to the net in the third quarter to put the Panthers ahead 7-5 with 2:49 remaining in the second half. Sophomore Owen Wimsatt scored four goals for his 12th hat trick of the season. The Panthers are headed to Kill Devil Hills to face First Flight in the state quarterfinals on Friday night.

Orange lacrosse’s Drew Jouannet, Aidan Monteith, Jackson Runkle & Owen Wimsatt talk win at Seaforth

For the fifth year in a row, the Orange lacrosse team has reached the state quarterfinals of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. On Tuesday night, the Panthers held off Seaforth 10-8 in the third and final meeting between the Mid-Carolina Conference rivals. It was the Panthers’ second win against the Hawks in Pittsboro this season.

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This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior lacrosse attacker Brett Clark. On Friday night, Clark scored the Panthers’ last three goals as Orange defeated Carrboro 11-7 to advance to the round of 16 in the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough. It ensured Orange’s second straight 20-win season. Clark leads the team with 66 goals and 101 points this season for an Orange team that claimed its fifth consecutive Mid-Carolina Conference championship. This season, Clark has 14 hat tricks. He scored a season-high six goals in Orange’s 18-4 win over Eastern Alamance on April 25 in Hillsborough. He started the year with four hat tricks in Orange’s first five games. In a 9-3 win over Northern Guilford, Clark scored three goals and registered three assists. On March 7, he scored four goals as Orange broke open a tight game against Southern Alamance to defeat the Patriots 12-6 in Graham. In the rematch against the Patriots, he scored five goals as Orange pulled away 12-4. Clark has helped a young Orange team with only six seniors fill the gap left behind after the departure of Connor Kruse, the all-time leading scorer in Orange lacrosse history. Clark returns to action on Tuesday when Orange faces Seaforth in the third round of the state playoffs in Pittsboro.

Orange Panther of the Week: Brett Clark

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior lacrosse attacker Brett Clark. On Friday night, Clark scored the Panthers’ last three goals as Orange defeated Carrboro 11-7 to advance to the round of 16 in the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough. It ensured Orange’s second straight 20-win season.

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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.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is sophomore lacrosse midfielder Owen Wimsatt. The younger brother of former Orange face-off ace Jake Wimsatt, Wimsatt helped the Panthers win its fifth consecutive Mid-Carolina Conference championship this season. He’s second on the team with 49 goals and 69 points. When he played at Orange Middle School, Wimsatt played as a longstick midfielder. Orange Panthers head coach Chandler Zirkle encouraged him to change to a short stick and he’s become one of Orange’s most accomplished scorers. In his varsity debut this season, Wimsatt had a hat trick in an 18-1 win over Southeast Alamance in Hillsborough. That was the first of eleven hat tricks during the regular season. On April 8, Wimsatt scored four goals in a win over Southern Alamance in Hillsborough. On March 7 against the Patriots in Graham, Wimsatt scored a season-high seven points. He had a string of three straight games with hat tricks against Williams, Cedar Ridge and Southern Alamance. Last Monday, he scored four goals as Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 4-3 to officially clinch a share of the conference title. He completed the regular season by scoring five points as the Panthers defeated Riverside 8-5 at Linny Wrenn Stadium in Durham. Orange will start play in the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs against Carrboro at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough on Friday night.

Orange Panther of the Week: Owen Wimsatt

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is sophomore lacrosse midfielder Owen Wimsatt. The younger brother of former Orange face-off ace Jake Wimsatt, Wimsatt helped the Panthers win its fifth consecutive Mid-Carolina Conference championship this season. He’s second on the team with 49 goals and 69 points.