Orange Men’s Lacrosse

The dominance of the Orange lacrosse team has stretched on for so long, even their head coach didn’t know the last time they had lost a regular season conference game until it finally happened.

It was April 27, 2019. A span of 47 games.

“It was really that long?” Orange coach Chandler Zirkle said as he walked to the team field house postgame.

That was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Before Orange won four consecutive conference championships, the first four in program history. Before they hosted three consecutive 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship games. Before they played for the state championship last spring.

It was even before Seaforth High School opened in 2021.

As Seaforth has done in so many different sports recently, they served notice that they are the new kings of the hill on Thursday night in Hillsborough. Behind five goals from junior Ivan Grimes, the Hawks outscored Orange 7-1 in the second half to win 11-6 at Auman Stadium.

Orange, who defeated Seaforth by scores of 17-3 and 22-6 during its Eastern Regional championship season last year, suffered its first loss of the season after opening the year beating 4A teams Pinecrest and Northern Guilford.

“They’re a tough squad,” Zirkle said. “They hit more tough shots and they got more ground balls. They deserved to win.”

Orange (6-1, 4-1 in the Central Conference) didn’t trail in the first half after junior Matthew Macneir opened with an overhand shot assisted by Aidan Monteith with 9:53 remaining in the first quarter. Grimes responded with an equalizer off a pass from Liam McCann. Brett Clark, who led Orange with three goals, notched his first off a feed from Brady Pfeiffenberger to put the Panthers ahead 2-1 at the end of the first quarter.

Clark’s goal started a 4-1 run that pushed the Panthers ahead 5-2. Following a man-up tally from Grimes to tie the game, Orange scored consecutive goals from Gray Crabtree, Jay Parker and Clark in a span of 1:18. Clark’s second goal, assisted by Macneir, came with 3:19 remaining in the first half.

The Panthers would notch just one more goal the rest of the game.

Seaforth junior Cameron Exley started the Seaforth comeback with a man-up goal after two Panthers were penalized. Senior Connor Yalch scored with 1:50 remaining in the first half off an assist from Exley to close Orange’s lead to 5-4.

The second half was total Seaforth domination. Grimes opened with the game-tying goal on a sidearm from 12 yards away to even it up at 5-5. The Panthers had uncharacteristic problems clearing the ball, leading to Seaforth dominating possession for most of the quarter. Grimes gave the Hawks the lead with his fourth goal off a pass from junior Jack Petrusa. Yalch added his second goal, followed by another marker from Exley with 1:16 remaining in the third quarter to compete a string of six consecutive Seaforth goals, pushing the Hawks lead to 8-5.

Clark scored Orange’s final goal with :48 remaining in the third quarter. Seaforth midfielder Jackson Powell squelched any chance of an Orange comeback when he took a pass from Exley in front of Orange goalkeeper Jackson Runkle and scored from point-blank range. Exley would finish with three goals and two assists.

On the chances Orange did muster in the fourth quarter, they were shut down by Seaforth goalkeeper Finn Prospero, a freshman who finished with 22 saves.

Exley, Yalch and Grimes all scored in the fourth period as the Panthers couldn’t take advantage of some man advantage opportunities late, including a 6-on-4 following a skirmish in front of the scorer’s table.

Earlier in the week, Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 13-4 at Red Wolves Stadium. The Panthers will face 4A foe Millbrook at Human Stadium on Wednesday night in Hillsborough, then return to conference action against Southeast Alamance on Friday.

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The Orange lacrosse team may have lost the highest scorer in school history, but their expectations aren’t any lower for this season. After winning the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship, the Panthers have opened this season 2-0 with dominant victories over Southeast Alamance and Northern Guilford. On Tuesday, Owen Wimstt had a hat trick while Dylan Herndon scored two goals as the Orange dominated the Stallions in Haw River in the season-opener. Luke Nevius and Luke Stitz each recorded three points while Jackson Eakes added two goals. Overall, 13 different Panthers scored goals. Eakes handled duties as the faceoff circle, winning eight draws. Ryder Fesperman also had eight faceoff wins. In Orange’s home opener on Wednesday night, the Panthers defeated Northern Guilford 11-3. Jay Parker scored four goals while Brett Clark added three goals. Orange lost plenty on the defensive end with the graduations of Sascha Van Praag and Alden Cathey. Andrew Jouannet came up big on the defensive end against the Nighthawks. Holden Ray forced a takeaway and Aidan Monteith also had takeaways. Goalkeeper Jackson Runkle had seven saves. Orange has won four consecutive conference championships under head coach Chandler Zirkle. Next week, the Panthers will open conference play against Walter Williams at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough.

Orange lacrosse’s Holden Ray, Aidan Monteith & Drew Jouannet discuss 2-0 start to season

The Orange lacrosse team may have lost the highest scorer in school history, but their expectations aren’t any lower for this season. After winning the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship, the Panthers have opened this season 2-0 with dominant victories over Southeast Alamance and Northern Guilford.

Connor Kruse: The all-time leading scorer in Orange lacrosse history, Kruse wasted no time getting his college career going with a bang. Kruse scored a goal in his first college game as Lenoir-Rhyne, ranked #3 in Division II, defeated #12 Maryville 13-12 in overtime at Pope Saint John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, TN on February 1. Kruse’s first college goal came with 5:38 remaining in the first half off an assist from Robert Walker to put the Bears ahead 5-3. It was Kruse’s only shot on goal. Last Saturday, Lenoir-Rhyne defeated Barton 18-8 at Truist Stadium in Wilson. Kruse unleashed one shot. The Bears will host Rollins in its home opener on Saturday morning at 11AM.

Sascha Van Praag: The former Orange defenseman is also on the roster for Lenoir-Rhyne as they start the season.

Josh Mauer: Another former Panther, Mauer is a redshirt season at Mt. Olive, where’s he the top face-off man. Last weekend, Mauer won 17 out of 22 faceoffs as the Trojans defeated Virginia State 12-6 at Ray McDonald Complex. He was credited with one shot. In the season-opener, Catawba defeated Mt. Olive 14-11 at Shuford Stadium in Salisbury. Mauer won 7 out of 17 faceoffs.

Jacob Driver: The leading scorer for Cedar Ridge last season, Driver is starting his freshman season at Mount Olive. Driver was an All-Mid Carolina Conference selection last year. Mt. Olive faces Lincoln Memorial on Saturday.

Cy Horner: The Division III Methodist men’s lacrosse team opened its season with a 18-6 loss to Sewanee at McGee Field in Sewanee, TN on February 8. Horner, a former attacker for Orange, was credited with seven shots.

Josh Crabtree: A freshman who played on Orange’s 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship team last year, Crabtree had one shot in his debut for Methodist against Sewanee. Methodist will face Goucher College in Baltimore on Saturday.

Josiah Tisdale: A former Orange defenseman, Tisdale is starting his sophomore season at Methodist. Last year, Tisdale played in five games with the Monarchs. He recorded two ground balls and caused one turnover against Warren Wilson College.

Nick Cardone: A former All-Conference defenseman at Orange, Cardone has started his sophomore year at Division II Catawba. As a freshman, Cardone played in one game against Virginia State.

Tigh Metheney: Another former Panther who is now a sophomore at Catawba.

Katie Wolter: Wolter will be the first player who played at a Hillsborough high school to suit up in a women’s lacrosse game for Division I Elon. Last week, the Phoenix opened its season against Duke. The Blue Devils won 16-7 at Koskinen Stadium in Durham.

Mary Moss Wirt: The Elon softball team opened its season by going 1-4 in the Elon Softball Classic at Hunt Softball Park last weekend. Wirt, a former shortstop for Orange, started four games as catcher. Saturday’s game against North Carolina Central matched up two former Hillsborough products as Wirt faced Takia Nichols, Cedar Ridge’s all-time home run hitter. Wirt, a junior, went 1-for-2 with a walk in a 12-8 loss to Ohio in the season-opener. Wirt scored her first run of the season in an 8-2 loss to Connecticut last Friday. She went 1-for-3 in a 4-3 loss to Ohio State. The Phoenix will host the Elon Softball Phoenix Invitational this weekend. They will start play against Morgan State on Friday afternoon.

Takia Nichols: Entering her junior season, Nichols was selected second-team Preseason All-MEAC. North Carolina Central dropped all four of its games in the Elon Softball Classic. Nichols went 0-for-2 with two walks in the loss to Elon on Saturday. Nichols drove in her first run of the season on an RBI groundout in a 14-5 loss to UNC Greensboro. She got her first hit in the season-opener last Thursday, an 8-0 loss to Ohio. On Friday, Central will journey to Covington, GA to start play in the HBCU Collegiate Invitational. The Eagles will play a doubleheader on Friday, starting with Southern University to start a series of games against opponents from the SWAC. Later, they will face Alcorn State.

Mia Davidson-Smith: Davidson continues stellar play with Diablos Rojos del Mexico in the Mexican Softball League. The Red Devils are 10-1 and are in first place in the league. On Sunday, the Diablos defeated Charros de Jalisco 8-4. Davidson hit a home run. Davidson leads the league with seven home runs and 19 RBIs.

The Orange lacrosse team has risen to statewide prominence over the past five years. Last spring, the Panthers won the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship and secured its fourth consecutive conference championship. Last week, two of Orange’s premier defenders signed with Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee. Drew Jouannet, a defender who created 22 turnovers in 2024, officially signed with the Railsplitters. Jouannet will start his third varsity season next month. Last season, Jouaneet had 63 ground balls. Joining Jouannet at Lincoln University will be senior midfielder Aidan Monteith. Last year, Monteith had 25 ground balls across 20 games and played in the 3A/2A/1A State Championship game. Also signing during a ceremony last week was senior Gray Crabtree. Last May in the Eastern Regional championship game, Crabtree scored seven goals in a win over Croatan, the biggest win in Orange lacrosse history. Crabtree signed with Division II Mars Hill University. Crabtree has scored 53 career goals. In his junior season, Crabtree had 40 goals. He finished with 46 points for the most successful Orange lacrosse team in school history. During the past three years, Jouannet, Monteith and Crabtree have helped Orange amass a 59-9 overall record with a 39-0 record against Central Conference opponents in the regular season. Orange will start its new season against Northern Guilford on February 24 at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough.

Orange lax Drew Jouannet & Aidan Monteith sign w/Lincoln Memorial; Gray Crabtree signs w/ Mars Hill

The Orange lacrosse team has risen to statewide prominence over the past five years. Last spring, the Panthers won the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship and secured its fourth consecutive conference championship. Last week, two of Orange’s premier defenders signed with Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee.

The long nights where Connor Kruse fired shots into an empty net long after practice ended have long since paid off for him.

Now, in the dearth of summer, comes the gravy.

Kruse, the all-time leading scorer in Orange lacrosse history, was named  an All-American by USA Lacrosse for the third time in his career. Last week, Kruse also was named the HighSchoolOT.com winner for Best Offensive Lacrosse Player. Kruse became the first Orange lacrosse player to win a HighSchoolOT.com award, which is determined by online voting.

Kruse’s extraordinary final chapter at Orange, the greatest individual season in school lacrosse history, predictably led to a slew of postseason honors from coaches in the Mid-Carolina Conference. Kruse was named to the All-Conference team, one of seven players who earned a spot on the squad. He was also named to the All-State team for the third time by the North Carolina Coaches Lacrosse Association. He is the first player in the history of Hillsborough to make the All-State team three times. He also made the All-Region team for the third time. He was second-team All-Region as a freshman.

Kruse became the first Orange player to score over 200 points in a season. He registered 72 goals, which is five short of his own single-season record of 77, set in 2022.

On March 25, Kruse tied the national record for most assists in a game when he racked up 16 in a 18-5 win over Southern Alamance in Graham. He set the school record for most assists in a season with 130.

Kruse was the spark plug behind an Orange team that had the greatest season in school history. The Panthers won the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship for the first time ever, beating Croatan 14-9 at Auman Stadium on May 13. They advanced to the State Championship match, where Lake Norman Charter claimed its third consecutive crown at Durham County Memorial Stadium.

Kruse paced Orange to its fourth consecutive league championship, outscoring opposition 298-54 in the Mid-Carolina Conference. Orange had a school-record 24 wins with its only regular season loss coming against Holly Springs, a 4A team.

A starter since his freshman year, Kruse actually made history before he even put on an Orange uniform. He started for Stanford Middle School in a game against Roxboro Community School in Person County in March 2000, scoring the opening goal seconds after winning the face-off in an easy Charger victory. It was the final game before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which shut down middle school athletics across Orange County for 18 months. It was also the final game in the storied history of Stanford athletics before the Orange County School Board mandated the school be rebranded to Orange Middle.

Once high school sports emerged from the slog of the pandemic, Orange coach Chandler Zirkle immediately stuck Kruse, as a freshman, on the front unit with veterans Ryan Merrill, Caleb Davis and Cy Horner. The Panthers won its first-ever conference title and reached the state quarterfinals, upsetting Northwood along the way. From that point forward, the balance of power in local lacrosse shifted away from the Chapel Hill-based schools and directly to Hillsborough.

After Merrill, Horner and Davis graduated, Kruse took control of the offense his sophomore season. He set a school-record of 77 goals and 139 points as the Panthers finished 11-0 in league play.

In 2022 and 2023, Orange hosted the Eastern Regional Championship games. In his junior year, Kruse scored 69 goals and 150 points, leading Orange to an undefeated conference regular season.

Last December, Kruse signed with Lenoir-Rhyne University, which reached the Division II National Championship game in May. In 2023, Lenoir-Rhyne won its first national championship game.

Kruse and his cousin, swimmer Katie Belle Sikes, formed a tandem that led to unprecedented success in their respective sports at Orange. In February, Sikes was named the Most Outstanding Swimmer of the 3A State Championships for the second time in her career. Sikes, who will swim at the University of Georgia, claimed five individual state championships and three relay state titles, the first Orange female swimmer to win a state championship.

After playing 26 games in the past three months, seniors on the Orange lacrosse team have logged plenty of minutes together.

Later today, they will take their final bow in the most famed lacrosse stadium in North Carolina.

Connor Kruse, Alden Cathey, Sascha Van Praag and Josh Crabtree will suit up in the Tony Cullen Classic All-Star game at Koskinen Stadium at Duke University in Durham tonight.

In addition, Katie Wolter will become the first player from Hillsborough to play in the women’s game, which starts at 3PM. After serving as Orange’s goalkeeper playing against men her entire career, Wolter will play in the women’s game for the Blue team.

The game includes lacrosse seniors from throughout the state and includes ten players who competed in men’s state championship games two weeks ago at Durham County Stadium.

In addition, Orange head coach Chandler Zirkle will serve as a head coach for the first time. Zirkle will coach the White team, which includes Kruse and Cathey. Zirkle, who typically serves in a behind the scenes role for the All-Star game, just led the Panthers to its most successful season in school history with a 24-2 record, capturing the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship for the first time.

The game is named in honor of Tony Cullen, a former Duke player and head coach who still holds the school record with eight assists in one game. He scored 220 career points and went on to serve as a head coach at Duke from 1982-1990. Afterwards, he served as a college official for 12 years.

Kruse, who will attend Lenoir-Rhyne next fall, is finishing the most accomplished career in Orange lacrosse history and will be the standard that future players will be compared with. He set the single-season school record 75 goals and 213 points as Orange won its fourth consecutive Mid-Carolina Conference championship. On March 25, Kruse tied the national record with 16 assists in a 18-5 win over Southern Alamance in Graham.

Cathey was a part of two regional championship team in men’s cross country in 2021 and 2023. He has been a member of the varsity since the pandemic-shortened season in 2021. This year, he led Orange with 58 turnovers created and 136 ground balls. In his final regular season game against Northwood, Cathey had 13 ground balls, a season-high, as the Panthers won 14-3 in Pittsboro to complete an undefeated regular season.

Van Praag, a native of the Netherlands, joined Cathey, Kale & Jace Womble and Drew Jouannet on a fierce defensive front the past three years. Van Praag was in elementary school with Wolter, Kruse, Josh Cowan and Josh Merill, all of whom are seniors who will graduate next month. This season, Van Praag had 75 ground balls and 49 turnovers created. He was named to the All-Conference team and will join Kruse at Lenoir-Rhyne next sesaon.

Crabtree finished with 38 goals this season and scored the opening goal for Orange against Lake Norman Charter, the Panthers’ first-ever goal in a state championship game. He had five hat tricks this season, including three goals against Carrboro in the state quarterfinals on May 7 at Auman Stadium. Crabtree’s season-high was four goals in a win over Western Alamance on April 23. He will play at Methodist University in Fayetteville next year.

Cathey will join Kruse on the White team, while Van Praag and Crabtree are on the Blue team.

Wolter has been Orange’s main goalkeeper for the past three years. Each season, Orange hosted the Eastern Regional championship game. Katie earned her own fan section for Orange home games. Each time she made a save, her family would raise a banner that reads “Play Like a Girl.” Wolter made over 300 saves in her Orange career, but this afternoon’s game will be the first time she has played against other women. Wolter will play women’s lacrosse at Elon University next February.

The game is a benefit for the Duke Cancer Institute. Donations can be made by going to the bullcityallstarlax.com All-Star game website . 

Photo by Jacques Morin 

DURHAM–If the 3A/2A/1A Men’s State Lacrosse game boiled down to crowd interest, Orange would have won going away.

Orange fans came out in large numbers to Durham County Stadium on May 18 to watch the Panthers play for the state championship in lacrosse for the first time in school history.

But Orange wasn’t just battling the two-time defending State Champions in Lake Norman Charter. They were trying to overthrow history.

Since the North Carolina High School Athletic Association split the public school state championships into two classifications, the Western region team has won the 3A/2A/1A State Championship eight consecutive times, split between Lake Norman Charter, Weddington (3) and Marvin Ridge (2). In that span, the average margin of victory has been eleven goals.

While Orange had thrilling moments early and even led with 2:10 remaining in the first half, the Knights threw wave after wave of humanity against the Panthers to thwart any hopes of an upset.

Junior Tyler Price scored seven goals, opening the second half with four consecutive goals, as Lake Norman Charter defeated Orange 16-7 to win its third consecutive state championship. Price, who finished with ten points, was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Senior Jack Dalton added three goals for Lake Norman Charter (15-7), who won three consecutive road games to win the state championship.

Orange’s Connor Kruse, the all-time leading scorer in school history, fittingly scored Orange’s final goal of the greatest season in team history. Sophomore Brandon Williams forced a turnover against Knights’ goalkeeper Noah McGovern. Williams picked the ball off the FieldTurf surface and fed it to Kruse, who fired it into an empty net for his 244th career goal, his 74th of the season, another school record.

“I think it was very possible for us to win today,” said Orange coach Chandler Zirkle, who led the team to a school record 24 wins this season. “Things didn’t go out way when we needed to get a break. They’re goalie played great. We took some shots that kind of dictated some turnovers to them. We don’t normally do that. They are too talented offensively to not score on the opportunities we gave them.”

There was hope early. Despite the Bimbe Music Festival sending thundering bass booms across the street, it didn’t seem to bother the Orange fans who cheered the Panthers every move in the first half. The Knights held Orange scoreless for the opening 4:28 as Dalton and Price opened with tallies to put LNC ahead 2-0.

Then Orange held the Knights without a goal for the subsequent 17 minutes and 24 seconds. Orange senior defenders Sascha Van Praag, Alden Cathey, Jace and Kale Womble all created turnovers. Senior Josh Crabtree scored Orange’s first goal in a state championship game on a simple overhand from 15 yards away following a restart. After LNC’s Landon Foushee was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Kruse tied the game with a man-up goal following a pass from Williams, evening the game at 2-2 with 4:02 remaining in the first quarter.

“Our fans did a remarkable job,” Zirkle said. “I took a picture of them before the game and they were all over the place. It felt like a home game.”

Junior Gray Crabtree gave Orange its only lead of the game with 6:39 remaining in the first half on another man-advantage goal, assisted by Kruse. It came after Dalton was called for offsides. From that point forward, McGovern shut down the Orange offense, making 12 saves. Orange went 18:46 without a goal, not scoring until sophomore faceoff man Matthew Macneir scored off a pass from Brett Clark to open the fourth quarter.

Between those two points, it was mostly Tyler Price. Following a man-up goal by the Knights from Stevie Parker to tie the game, Price put the Knights in the lead with an unassisted tally with 1:23 remaining in the first half. Then LNC scored seven unanswered goals in the third quarter. Price netted the opening four, including three in a span of 2:51. a tidal wave of offense that has been common for the Knights during its run to three straight state titles.

For Orange’s eleven seniors who were so instrumental in building the program, their final quarter wasn’t all doom and gloom, though the skies got darker and the rain started to fall as the game wound to a close. The Panthers’ starting goalkeeper, Parker Christie-Pohl, played strong in the first half. He was replaced in the final minutes by Katie Wolter, who made over 300 career saves and earned a win in net over Carrboro in the state quarterfinals.

Josh Cowan scored his final goal, the 29th of his season, with 9:35 remaining to cut the Knights lead down to 12-6. Michael Lindsey and Jacob Carlascio managed the game’s final goals for LNC.

As the hundreds of Orange supporters lingered outside of the home team’s dressing room along the main concourse, a significant portion of Orange’s lacrosse history quietly closed. A group that won four conference championships and put the sport on the map in northern Orange County all took off their Panthers uniforms for the last time.

They were part of Orange going from a team to a program, something that wasn’t lost on Zirkle.

“This was the best senior class we’ve had,” Zirkle said. “We’ve had some really great senior classes, but this group was phenomenal. At this time last year, I talked with this senior class about how to get to the next step and get to this game. It’s really cool to know we did that.”