Orange Men’s Lacrosse

Two Orange lacrosse seniors responsible for the most successful season in school history have been honored accordingly.

Orange longstick midfielder Duncan Grant has been named the Conference 9 Player of the Year. Grant’s classmate, Ryan Merrill, was named the Conference 9 co-Offensive Player of the Year. Merrill shared the award with Cedar Ridge’s Roman Oguntoyinbo.

Grant is Orange’s first-ever Conference Player of the Year.

Orange sophomore Jake Wimsatt was named the Conference 9 co-Defensive Player of the Year. Wimsatt shared the honor with Cedar Ridge long stick midfielder Dov Bearmann.

The Panthers, who captured the Conference 9 Championship, had eight players make first-team All-Conference 9. In addition to Grant, Merrill and Wimsatt, also honored were freshman midfielder Connor Kruse, senior attacker Caleb Davis, midfielder Cy Horner, senior Leif Mahaney, and defenseman Griffin Metheny.

Orange’s nine seniors were responsible for the deepest run in school history. The Panthers reached the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3A/2A/1A State Quarterfinals, upsetting Northwood in the second round. Last Monday, Orange lost to eventual Eastern Regional Champion East Chapel Hill at Auman Stadium, but the Panthers led late in the third quarter. Orange’s Conference 9 Championship was the school’s first outright conference title in any sport since February 2019.

“This was a great year for our conference,” said Orange Lacrosse Coach Chandler Zirkle. “There were many deserving players as voted on by our conference coaches.”

Grant scored 15 goals and three assists, including a vital hat trick in the win over Northwood, which came only one week after the Chargers romped past the Panthers by eleven goals. Grant was second on the team with 49 ground balls and led the squad with 32 takeaways.

Merrill led Orange with 29 goals and 15 assists. He scored six goals in a 10-6 win over Cedar Ridge on February 24, which essentially ensured the conference championship. Merrill had a hat trick in the victory over Northwood and was the go-to option on offense throughout the year. Merrill added four goals against East Chapel Hill in the state playoffs, his final game at Orange. He also assisted on two goals against the Wildcats.

“Roman Oguntoyinbo and Ryan Merril both had exceptional years scoring the ball for both Cedar Ridge and Orange,” Zirkle said. “Roman lead the conference in scoring during the regular season while Ryan Merrill was the leading scorer on the conferences top team who often came out mid way through games to give JV players the chance to play.”

Davis, a senior attacker, was second on the team with 22 goals and 20 assists. He finished with five points against Northwood, including a hat trick. He finished with seven points against Vance Charter School in Henderson on March 4, which officially secured the Conference 9 title for the Panthers. Davis also scored seven points in a 19-7 win over Carrboro on March 2.

Horner scored Orange’s opening goal against East Chapel Hill last Monday. He ended the year with five goals and nine assists. He scored four points against Carrboro, and assisted on Connor Kruse’s game-winning goal against Northwood.

Speaking of Kruse, he was one of only two freshman to make the All-Conference 9 first-team. Kruse, who played at Stanford Middle School last year, finished third on the squad with 19 goals. He also had 32 points. Kruse had three hat tricks, including two in back-to-back games against Northern Durham and Carrboro. Kruse was a regular feature on Orange’s top unit in the state playoffs and figures to be a prominent player for years to come.

Mahaney ended the year with 44 ground balls, third on the team. He was also a reliable defensive midfielder with 12 takeaways, tied with Davis for second-highest on the team behind Grant.

Metheny was a strong long stick defenseman for an Orange team that allowed five goals or less four times. As Orange struggled struggled throughout the year to find a steady goalkeeper because of injuries and football defections, Metheny was one of the pillars of the Panthers’ defense.

Wimsatt was Orange’s face-off ace. In the regular season, Wimsatt won 71% of his face-offs, with 81 victories in all. He controlled the face-off circle against East Chapel Hill, where he won a majority of his attempts. Wimsatt led Orange with 86 ground balls. He also developed into a scoring threat at the year wore on, ending the season with eleven goals.

Sophomore Braden Hunt and senior Tristan Watson were named honorable mention All-Conference.

Marvin Jones: A former Cedar Ridge track and field star, Jones finished second for North Carolina Central at the Raleigh Relays at N.C. State University on Saturday. Jones had a jump of 2.05 meters in the high jump. Virginia’s Brenton Foster captured the high jump championship. It was Jones’ first event since the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in February 2020, where he came in 3rd in the high jump. Jones’ personal best is 2.10 meters.

Bryse Wilson: Wilson was optioned by the Atlanta Braves to an alternate training site on Friday. The move came after Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said the Braves wouldn’t use a fifth starter for the first few weeks of the season. Wilson was in contention to be the fifth man in the rotation. So far in spring training, Wilson is 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA in four appearances with three starts. He has struck out nine batters in 13.2 innings.

Landon Riley: The Liberty baseball team won its 13th straight game with a 5-2 win over Bellarmine on Friday. Riley threw one-and-two-third innings, once again not allowing a run. He walked one and struck out one. Liberty’s winning streak ended with an 8-7 loss to the Knights on Saturday, but the Flames captured the series with a 5-1 victory on Sunday at Knights Field in Louisville, KY. Liberty will make another trip to the Triangle on Tuesday. They face Duke at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Joey Berini: #8 East Carolina defeated Elon 15-0 at Latham Park on Friday. Berini came in as a reserve shortstop and went 0-for-2. The Pirates are 17-5.

Phillip Berger: Berger took a no decision as Division III William Peace defeated Averett University 4-3 at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary on Saturday. Berger worked seven innings and surrendered ten hits, but only two runs. He struck out five and walked two. This season, Berger is 2-2 with a 3.82 ERA in eight appearances. The Pacers have won four in a row after sweeping the weekend series from Averett.

Mia Davidson: Davidson is now eighth in career home runs in Southeastern Conference history. On Sunday, Davidson hit a solo homer in the sixth inning against #12 Arkansas, giving her 60 career dingers. Davidson is already the all-time home run hitter in Mississippi State history. Arkansas swept the weekend series against Mississippi State. On Saturday, Arkansas held off the Bulldogs 8-7. where Davidson hit another home run. She went 0-for-3 in a 2-0 loss on Friday. Through 29 games, Davidson is hitting .337 with eight home runs and 20 RBIs. She’s tied for the team lead with 30 hits and leads the squad with seven doubles.

Montana Davidson: Montana started all three games against the Razorbacks at third base. She went 1-for-4 on Saturday. Montana has started all 28 games for Mississippi State and is hitting .287.

Jaden Hurdle: Patrick Henry Community College’s softball team swept a doubleheader against Surry Community College in Dobson on Friday. Hurdle went a combined 5-for-7 with four RBIS and four runs scored. In the second game, Hurdle drilled a 2-run homer in the Patriots’ 15-10 win. Hurdle finished the day 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. She also doubled. Hurdle even pitched one inning, where she surrendered three runs (two earned) off two hits. She walked one and struck out one.

In the opening game, PHCC won 10-3. Hurdle finished 2-for-2 with one run scored and two walks. Patrick Henry is in 3rd place in Region 10’s West Division with a 4-4 conference record. The Patriots are 8-10 overall. Hurdle is hitting .447 with 21 hits, both the second-best marks on the team. Hurdle leads the Patriots with eleven extra base hits. She also has three home runs and 15 RBIs.

Grace Andrews: The Catawba Valley Community College softball team’s weekend series against Caldwell Community College was postponed by rain. It will be played today. Last Wednesday, the Red Hawks swept a doubleheader from the Montreat JV on scores of 11-0 and 9-0 in Hickory. In the opener, Andrews had an RBI single and finished 1-for-3 with a run scored. In the nightcap, Andrews also went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. In Division II of Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association, Andrew is tied for 3rd with 25 RBIs. She’s seventh with a .492 batting average. Andrews also has four RBIs. The Red Hawks are tied with Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute for 1st place in Region 10’s Western Division with a 6-2 record.

Adam Chnupa: #20 Richmond defeated Elon 31-17 at Robins Stadium on Saturday in Colonial Athletic Association football action. Chnupa finished with a tackle for the Phoenix, who are 1-5 overall, 0-4 in the CAA.

Dylan Boyer: The former Orange High midfielder played as a reserve for the Division II Queen’s College men’s lacrosse team last week. Queen’s defeated Coker University 12-8 at Queen’s Sports Complex in Charlotte. On Saturday, the Royals defeated Tusculum University 12-8 to improve to 5-3 overall, 5-1 in the South Atlantic Conference.

Jaylin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team drilled Averett 26-3 at Campbell Stadium in Danville, VA on Saturday. Jones scooped up a ground ball for the Falcons, who have won five in a row and are 6-1 overall, 3-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Kayla Hodges: Elon Phoenix junior Kayla Hodges was named Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Week. Last week, Elon defeated James Madison in overtime 1-0. The Dukes fired 12 shots against Elon, but Hodges and the rest of the backline prevented any of the shots from getting on net. Hodges also had a shot on net in Sunday’s victory at Rudd Field. Elon is 2-1, 1-1 in the CAA. They host South Carolina on Thursday.

Brittany Daley: Division III Greensboro College played to a scoreless tie with Pfeiffer on Saturday at Pride Field in Greensboro. Daley made her 39th career start for the Pride, who are now 3-1-1 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Bailey Lucas: Lucas posted a double-double in Division III Meredith’s nightcap victory over North Carolina Wesleyan at Weatherspoon Gym in Raleigh on Saturday. Lucas had 24 assists and eleven kills as the Avenging Angels won the second match of a doubleheader 3-0 on scores of 25-14, 25-14 and 25-20. Meredith also captured the opener 3-0 on scores of 25-19, 25-16 and 25-9. In that match, Lucas started once again and registered nine assists and two digs. Meredith improved to 4-3, 3-2 in the USA South. This season, Lucas has started all seven matches for the Avenging Angels. She leads the team with 161 assists and is third on the squad with 51 digs. Meredith travels to Greensboro on Saturday.

Joey Berini: The #8 East Carolina baseball team lost to #24 North Carolina 8-1 on Tuesday night at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill. Berini entered the game in the sixth inning and remained as the shortstop. In his only at-bat, Berini grounded out to second base. The Pirates are now 16-4.

Cooper Porter: Pensacola State defeated Chipola College 8-4 last Thursday. Porter finished 1-for-4 with a run scored. Through nine games with the Pirates, Porter is hitting .167 with one RBI and three stolen bases.

Jaylin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer University men’s lacrosse team defeated Methodist 18-8 at Lefko Field in Misenheimer on Sunday. It was the Falcons’ fourth straight victory. Jones was credited with a ground ball as Pfeiffer improved to 5-1, 3-0 in the USA South Conference.

Olivia Ward: Ward captured a victory at #3 doubles for the Division III Methodist women’s tennis team on Saturday. Ward, a former All-Big 8 Conference player at Cedar Ridge, teamed with Natalie Collins to defeat Emily Wrenn and Ruth Lechner 8-0 of Sweet Briar in #3 doubles. Sweet Briar wound up winning the match 5-4. It was Ward’s first victory in the college ranks. Earlier in the day, Ward lost in #3 singles to Kate Katany 6-4, 6-3. Methodist is 4-9 overall, 1-0 in the USA South Conference.

Connor Crabtree: Though he hasn’t played since early December, Connor Crabtree will be watching when the University of Richmond competes in the National Invitational Tournament quarterfinals. The Spiders will face Mississippi State on Thursday night. Unfortunately, Crabtree was sidelined for the season with a broken foot before Christmas. In his first season with the Spiders, Crabtree played in four games. On December 22, he scored eight points as the Spiders lost to Hofstra 76-71. Crabtree played a season-high 21 minutes. He also played seven minutes against Loyola-Chicago, whom the Spiders defeated 75-73 on December 18. The Ramblers will face Oregon State on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

The East Chapel Hill Wildcats were the deserving winners against Orange in the 3A/2A/1A State Quarterfinals at Auman Stadium.

But that’s only part of the story from Monday night.

There’s the atmosphere that surrounded it. Even with attendance restrictions, there was a strong turnout at Auman Stadium to see if the highest achieving Orange lacrosse team in history could extend their run a few days later. Perhaps even find a way to carry it all the way to this weekend in Raleigh. Listeners from Texas, Florida, and western North Carolina tuned in to Hillsboroughsports.com for the play-by-play call.

There was the mental toughness of an Orange team that fell behind foul goals in the third quarter and refused to concede. It wasn’t a once in a lifetime moment for this Panthers’ team because they expect success, now and later, which is precisely the point. To compete against one of the blue bloods of North Carolina high school lacrosse? Orange has transcended that now. They’re nearly beating them.

That’s where Chandler Zirkle, at the end of his fourth season, has taken Orange lacrosse. On Monday night, it ironically came against the school where his father, Franklin, won two North Carolina Lacrosse Association state championships in 2004 and 2006. Chandler himself played at East and also reached the 2011 State Championship game.

East’s offensive firepower of Alec Levy and Samuel Reece sparked a 6-0 run late in the third quarter to send the Wildcats past Orange 15-12 on Monday night at Auman Stadium. East Captain Alec Levy finished with five goals and two assists, while junior Samuel Reece added four goals and two assists as the Wildcats reached the Eastern Regional Championship game for the second time in four years.

Orange’s Ryan Merrill, in his final game, scored four goals and two assists. Senior Duncan Grant and freshman Connor Kruse also had two goals for Orange, who end the year 8-4.

The Wildcats will travel to Hampstead to face Topsail for the Eastern Regional Championship Wednesday night.

“It’s actually fun going against a team you know is going to coach well,” Zirkle said. “They threw a short stick zone at us early, which I really liked. It’s cool to make those adjustments. They’re a well coached team that deserved to win. They outplayed us tonight.”

With 4:02 remaining in the 3rd quarter, Orange led 11-9 after Ryan Merrill snuck a low shot past East goalkeeper August Walls. With the partisan Orange crowd providing applauding after every goal, for and against, the Panthers appeared to add momentum when goalkeeper Chase Hawkins stopped a shot by Seiji Stanford late in the third quarter.

Then Levy made the play of the game. He intercepted the subsequent outlet pass out of midair, went behind the net, ran out in front as he absorbed two checks and fired the ball into the upper right corner of the net. It was his fifth goal, but it drained Orange of any juice for the remainder the night.

“We went back and made the same dumb mistakes that we shouldn’t make,” Zirkle said. “We’ve tried to fix that in practice, and as a whole, we’ve done a good job in adjusting. But we made too many bad turnovers tonight.”

East sophomore Harrison Yost evened the game just one minute later at 11-11. Nicholas Castro, who scored seven goals against Orange in the first meeting between the two teams on February 10, notched his first goal with under a minute remaining in the third to vault East into the lead at 12-11.

“We made too many mistakes in transition this year,” Zirkle said. “We tried to keep them out of transition tonight and again I think we gave them too many transition goals. That’s where they’re great. You can’t let them have too many 3-on-2 opportunities when they have two All-American attackmen.”

Not even a two-minute illegal stick penalty to start the fourth quarter could stop the Wildcats. East calmly killed it off without allowing an Orange shot. Stanford added two more goals in the fourth quarter, while Castro scored another to boost the Wildcat lead to 15-11.

Orange sophomore Jake Wimsatt dominated at the face-off circle for the first three quarters, which led to lengthy possessions against the transition-minded Wildcats. Orange trailed 7-3 with 9:51 remaining in the first half, but Wimsatt’s low shot past Walls triggered a 5-2 Panther run to finish the first half. After an offside penalty against Stanford, freshman Connor Kruse notched a Man-up goal off an assist from Ryan Merrill to cut East’s lead to 7-6. Levy followed with consecutive goals, but Orange ended the first half with a strike from Merrill with 1:03 remaining. Then Kruse, with only five second left following a restart, found Caleb Davis, who whipped a shot into the net just as the half ended to propel Orange into the locker room with momentum down 9-8.

Kruse tied the game off an assist from Cy Horner to open the third quarter. In the process, East was kept off the scoreboard for over eleven minutes Wimsatt gave Orange the lead off a feed from Merrill with 7:31 remaining, followed by Merrill’s goal before East’s run.

There were no tears for an Orange team that only experienced a fraction of a season that they’re used to. There were memories of past practices and Zirkle’s early days as a head coach where he tried to instill discipline only to turn into unintentional comedy. And lots and lots of pictures.

“We’ve got a cool program,” Zirkle said. “I love having multiple sport athletes, but when you have ten of eleven football players who decided to play lacrosse this year because it’s more fun…I actually pushed kids to play football this year, but they wanted to be part of this. It’s cool to have kids want to be here.”

As he walked out of Auman Stadium for the final time in 2021, Zirkle was smiling. Not just about the season that has ended, but for the future, as well.

It was the end of the line for Orange lacrosse seniors Leif Mahaney, Duncan Grant and Tristin Watson in the 3A/2A/1A/ State Lacrosse quarterfinals on Monday night. East Chapel Hill scored six unanswered goals to beat the Panthers 15-12 at Auman Stadium. The seniors on Orange’s team can say they did something that no other Panther team had ever done. They reached the state quarterfinals and won a conference championship. Long stick midfielder Duncan Grant scored two goals. Midfielder Leif Mahaney helped sophomore Jake Wimsatt to numerous face off wins in the first half by getting to ground balls. Tristin Watson provided reliable defense. As Orange looks to the future, the class of 2021 will be remembered for laying a foundation that the success of later generations will be built on.

The Orange lacrosse team ended its regular season against Chapel Hill in a thrilling game last Wednesday. Here are some photos from that game courtesy of Lynda Wileman.

The old adage is to avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.

Orange Coach Chandler Zirkle wasn’t afraid to speak up in a haywire final five minutes against Northwood at Auman Stadium, and it helped put the Panthers in the 3A/2A/1A State Quarterfinals for the first time in the 13-year history of the program.

Just nine days removed from Northwood thrashing Orange 17-6 in Pittsboro, the Panthers edged out a 10-9 victory over the Chargers in a fever-pitched atmosphere at Auman Stadium on Wednesday night. Orange’s Ryan Merrill finished with three goals and two assists. Merrill’s classmate, Caleb Davis, also had a hat trick and two assists as Orange improved to 8-3.

The Panthers will host East Chapel Hill, where Zirkle once played, in Hillsborough on Monday night.

Freshman Connor Kruse, who played at Stanford Middle School at this time last year, notched the game-winning goal when he fired the ball between the legs of Northwood’s goalkeeper with 5:27 remaining. Cy Horner assisted on Kruse’s only goal of the game.

But there was plenty that happened afterwards.

On two separate occasions, Northwood had potential game-tying goals waved off. The most noteworthy came with 4:50 remaining when Chargers midfielder Will Smith was deep in Northwood’s offensive zone and had the ball knocked away by defenseman Griffin Metheny. Smith ran out of his offensive end to scoop the ground ball and appeared to carry the ball over the midfield line, which would have resulted in an over-and-back call (similar to basketball). The officials let the play continue and Smith tallied the game-tying goal with 4:03 left.

Or so it appeared.

The referees, two of whom were college officials, gathered together and decided it was a correctable error, ruling that Smith had committed the over-and-back violation. The goal was nullified and 47 seconds was placed back on the clock. In the midst of the discussion, Northwood coach Randy Cox was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“They established themselves in the box,” Zirkle said. “The officials caught it and let the players play on, which is the right thing to do. They went down and scored, but the officials caught the mistake.”

Northwood got the ball back with 2:03 remaining and again appeared to tie the game when Ben Rogers fired the ball into the right corner of the net. Zirkle challenged that Rogers had an illegal stick. The officials put a ball in Rogers stick and it failed to come out while the head of the stick was parallel. Again, the game-tying goal was nullified and Rogers was penalized for two minutes, sending several furious Charger fans rushing towards the front gate of the visitor’s section to scream at the officials. Orange ran out the clock for the most important win in school history.

The game turned on an illegal stick penalty against Northwood midway through the fourth quarter. Northwood scored consecutive goals from Smith and Terry Moore to take a 9-8 lead, then called timeout. Once Orange went on the man-up, sophomore Jake Wimsatt whistled home the game-tying goal within seconds off a pass from Merrill. Kruse later scored the game-winner.

After losing by eleven goals to Northwood the week before, Zirkle didn’t have to work hard to coach amnesia for such a huge game.

“It was our worst game of the year,” Zirkle said. “By no means did we do everything we wanted to do tonight. We brought into our game plan and we’re getting as good as we can at this time.”

Merrill scored just 26 seconds into the game off an assist from Davis to spark a first quarter that featured four ties and two lead changes. Northwood’s Jake Mann, who has signed to play football at Oklahoma, scored all four of the Chargers’ goals in the first quarter, including one off an assist from Taylor Leverage to even the game 4-4 going into the second quarter.

Mann finished with five goals in his final lacrosse game with the Chargers.

Orange’s defense kept Northwood scoreless for the first 7:12 of the second quarter. Panther sophomore Joe Cady posted two goals to vault Orange into a 6-4 lead. Cady’s first was assisted by Merrill, the second by Davis. Laberge scored for Northwood with 4:48 remaining to cut Orange’s lead to 6-5 at halftime.

Davis registered his third goal off an assist from Jake Wimsatt to open the second half and push Orange ahead 7-5. Northwood’s Ben Rogers and Mann scored to even the game, but Merrill whipped a shot past Northwood goalkeeper Hunter Klingel to put Orange back into the lead going into the fourth quarter.

Orange goalkeeper Chase Hawkins, who made several vital saves during the second half, emerged to become an unlikely hero. After playing in net as a sophomore for Orange’s playoff win over Northside-Jacksonville in 2019, Hawkins appeared to have hung up his lacrosse jersey after the 2020 season was abandoned because of the pandemic. However, the Panthers have spent this season playing without its top two goalkeepers, who are both with the football team. Hawkins, who has been known to drive a tractor to school, was summoned out of retirement by Zirkle earlier this month and started only his second game of the year on Wednesday night.

He wound up earning the win on a night no Orange fan will soon forget.