Orange Men’s Lacrosse

It’s the final season for several important players who have suited up for the Orange lacrosse team the past four years. On Monday night, they got off to a strong start, beating formidable 4A opponent Apex 13-8 at Auman Stadium. Senior Connor Kruse finished with three goals and six assists. Kruse is the all-time leading scorer in school history. He has 173 career goals and 339 points. Defenseman Alden Cathy had two ground balls and made several stellar defensive plays to keep the Panthers ahead for the entire game. Senior goalkeeper Katie Wolter played in the first and third quarters. Wolter, made two saves. In December, Wolter formally signed to play for the Elon women’s lacrosse team after being a starter for two Orange teams that have won the conference championship each of the last three years. Sophomore Brandon Williams started the year with four goals. Last season, Williams finished with 27 goals as a rookie. Freshman Jackson Runkle played the second and fourth quarters in his first career varsity game. Sophomore Matthew Macner won 15 face-offs. Orange was supposed to face Walter Williams on Tuesday night but the game was rained out in Burlington. The Panthers will face Cedar Ridge at Auman Stadium in Central Conference opener at Auman Stadium this Monday night. 

Two prominent members of the Orange lacrosse team signed were part of a massive signing day last month. Long stick midfielder Alden Cathey signed with Division III Arcadia University in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Midfielder Josh Crabtree signed with Division III Methodist University in Fayetteville. Cathey has been a prominent part of three conference championships for Orange since he joined the lacrosse team as a freshman, which was the pandemic year of 2020. Orange won the Conference 9 Championship and reached the state quarterfinals in the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. Last season, Cathey was third on the team with 78 ground balls as the Panthers went undefeated in Mid-Carolina Conference play. For the second year in a row, the Panthers hosted the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship game. Cathey has also qualified for the 3A State Cross Country championship meet in men’s cross country twice and has won two Mideast Regional championships with the Panthers. Crabtree scored the first goal of the regional championship game against Northwood last season. In 2023, Crabtree scored 20 goals and 32 points. Crabtree scored five goals in the state playoffs. On March 14, Crabtree had a hat trick in a 15-0 win over Cedar Ridge. On March 17, he had another hat trick against Seaforth as the Panthers prevailed 18-5. Crabtree has been a member of the varsity team for three years. As a sophomore, Crabtree registered 18 goals. That included another hat trick against Cedar Ridge on march 15, 2022, which Orange won 11-9. Cathey and Crabtree will be in uniform again next month when Orange starts its season against Apex on February 26 at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough.

At first glance, Katie Wolter’s path to playing college lacrosse at Elon University would seem unorthodox. For the past two years, she has been a woman playing men’s lacrosse at Orange High School because the Panthers don’t have a women’s program. But Wolter was born to be a goalkeeper, regardless of gender. Her brother, Tyson, played the position at Orange and eventually suited up for Division III Pfeiffer. From the time she started playing against the boys in her sophomore year at Orange, she has been viewed as a Division I prospect. And she has been the starting goalkeeper for the most successful teams in Orange lacrosse history. In 2022, Wolter had a .536 save percentage as the Panthers claimed the Central Conference championship. She held Carrboro to four goals in the 3A/2A/1A State Quarterfinals in a 13-4 Orange victory, the first time ever that Orange won a game in the round of eight. In 2023, Wolter had 128 saves in 478 minutes of action facing some of the best 4A teams in the state like Green Level, Wilmington Laney and Holly Springs. Just before Christmas, Wolter joined five of her teammates in signing with various colleges. Before she leaves for Elon, Wolter will play her senior year starting next month as Orange tries to win the elusive 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship.

It was a full day at Orange High School with five lacrosse players signing with colleges from Hickory to Pennsylvania. Senior midfielder Connor Kruse and defenseman Sascha Van Praag formally signed with Division II Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory. Kruse, the son of Travis and Lauren Kruse, is the all-time leading scorer in Orange history. In his sophomore year, Kruse broke the single-season school record with 70 goals. Last season, Kruse broke another school record with 81 assists. He broke the career record with 330 points. He also amassed the single-season record with 150 points. Van Praag, the son of Bart and Berger Van Praag, has been a valuable defenseman alongside goalkeeper Katie Wollter and fellow defenders Alden Cathey, Nick Cardone and Josiah Tisdale, among others. In his sophomore season, Van Praag created 20 turnovers and had 59 ground balls. During an abbreviated junior season, Van Praag had 20 ground balls over nine games. He also created nine turnovers. Kruse and Van Praag will join a Lenoir-Rhyne team that is led by head coach Greg Paradine, who was named the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division II National Coach of the Year this week for the third time. Paradine is the only coach in Lenoir-Rhyne’s history. He guided the Bears to the Division II National Championship last spring.

Three seniors who were vital to the rise of the Orange lacrosse program will conclude their high school careers at the Bull City All-Star Game on Wednesday night.

Midfielder Tigh Metheny, defensemen Nick Cardone and Braden Hunt have been named to the All-Star Game, which will be held on Wednesday night at Koskinen Stadium at Duke University, the home of the ACC Champion Duke men’s lacrosse team.

Cardone will suit up for the White Team while Metheny and Hunt were named to the Blue Team, which will be coached by Northwood’s Randy Cox, who won the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship earlier this month. It was the first time the Chargers reached a state championship game in lacrosse. Chapel Hill’s Jacob Manning will also coach the Blue Team.

Ken Broomfield of Wilmington Laney and John Van Lunen of First Flight will coach the White Team.

Cardone, Metheny and Hunt were three seniors chosen among over 240 players nominated by 92 coaches. 60 men and 59 women’s players were selected for the two games.

The women’s game will be held on Wednesday afternoon at 3:30. The men’s game will start at 6:30.

Cardone, Metheny and Hunt were members of the most successful four-year class in Orange lacrosse history. They were freshmen on the 2020 team that roared out of the gates with a 7-0 start, outscoring opponents 92-33. They ended the season with a decisive win over Roxboro Community School, which was the final sporting event played by any local team for eight months before COVID-19 shut down the season. The RCS game was the final one for Orange senior attacker Wyatt Jones, the first Panther lacrosse player to sign with a Division I school when he played with Mercer.

As the pandemic restrictions eased, Cardone, Metheny and Hunt became key players for Orange’s run of three consecutive conference championships, the first titles in team history. Metheny scored four goals and three assists as a sophomore.

In 2022, Orange won the new Mid-Carolina Conference championship, reached the state quarterfinals for the first time ever and also hosted the Eastern Regional Championship game against First Flight. Cardone and Metheny were named All-Conference. Cardone led the team with 25 created turnovers. He also registered 63 ground balls, fourth on the team. Metheny was another cog in an offensive machine that scored a Mid-Carolina Conferee-leading 273 goals.

Metheney was tied for second on the team with 45 goals. He also finished with 69 points, second on the team. Hunt, in his first full varsity season, had 41 ground balls as a defenseman.

The 2022 team had a 17-3 record, breaking the school record for wins. This year’s team eclipsed that mark with a 18-4 record, once again reaching the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship game. Metheny had a career-high 53 goals and scored 68 points. Cardone led the team with 34 turnovers created and was fifth on the team with 60 ground balls.

In April, both Cardone and Metheny signed with Division II Catawba College in Salisbury.

This season, Hunt created 26 turnovers, second on the team. He also had 35 ground balls.

The Bull City All Star Game is a benefit for the Duke Cancer Institute and North Carolina High School Athletic Association scholarships. Organized by Franklin Zirkle, a former head coach at East Chapel Hill and Leesville Road, the game is named in honor of Tony Cullen. One of the most successful players in Duke history, Cullen scored 106 career goals and 114 assists before he graduated in 1979. Afterwards, Cullen went on to coach the Blue Devils for nine years. After his coaching stint ended, Cullen went on to become a college lacrosse official.

In its first year of operation, the Bull City All Star game raised $2,500 for Duke Cancer Institute. Last year, in its first year back after the pandemic, the All-Star game raised $10,000.

The surroundings were there for a coronation.

A year after looking out of sorts in its first-ever Eastern Regional Championship game appearance against First Flight, the Orange lacrosse team looked to get it right on Tuesday night at Auman Stadium in another state semifinal appearance.

Their opponent, Northwood, had lost five straight games to the Panthers. On April 19 in Pittsboro, the Panthers ruined the Chargers’ senior night with a 16-10 win that clinched the Mid-Carolina Conference championship.

Yet despite Orange’s dominance in the rivalry, Northwood looked like the most desperate team on Tuesday night, as they should have. It was the last chance for seniors Will Smith, Taylor Laberge, Jason Walden, Will Johnson and Taylor Zelholf to beat Orange.

They played like it was their last game. It led to the Chargers first regional championship.

As the buzzer sounded on Northwood’s 10-8 upset win over the Panthers in the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship game, the jubilant Chargers all threw their white sticks in the air while Orange coach Chandler Zirkle watched from the sidelines.

Northwood advances to face Lake Norman Charter in the State Championship game at Durham County Stadium.

It was a crushing disappointment for Orange (18-4), who was held to a season-low eight goals against a 3A/2A/1A opponent. Junior Connor Kruse, the Panthers’ leading scorer who went into the game with a right leg injury, was held without a goal for the first time this season.

It was Orange’s first loss against a team from its own classification all year. The Panthers had been ranked #1 in the RPI East Region all season. Northwood was #2.

Tigh Metheny, in his final game at Orange, scored two goals. After the final buzzer, an inconsolable Metheny was motionless laying face-down in the middle of the field as his teammates gathered around him in a show of support.

“Northwood made the plays in front of them,” Zirkle said after addressing his team. “They did a great job of that. We just didn’t hit our shots. We turned the ball over too much and created turnover opportunities.”

The wear and tear of playing 21 games caught up with Orange. In addition to Kruse’s injury, freshman Matthew MacNair was also banged up after establishing himself in place of senior Jake Wimsatt, who injured his MCL in March.

Without a healthy Kruse, Orange’s offense looked disjointed. A superb effort by Johnson, who defended Kruse most of the night, kept the Panthers from getting into a rhythm. After Josh Cowan notched Orange’s opening goal off a rebound conceded by Northwood goalkeeper James Flanagan 97 seconds into the game, the Panthers didn’t score for nearly twelve minutes.

“18 wins is the most we’ve had as a program,” Zirkle said. “That’s a lot of games on the legs. Connor’s biggest strength has been his durability. We had all the chances we needed to try to score and we just couldn’t execute it.”

Northwood controlled possession the final five minutes of the first quarter. They evened the game when Carson Fortunes found Smith darting through the heart of the slot for a transition goal. Then Laberge notched an unassisted goal when he fired an overhand shot past Orange goalkeeper Katie Wolter. Fortunes hit Walden on the doorstep for a dunk shot to make it 3-1 Chargers with 2:28 remaining in the first quarter.

Orange quickly tied it in the second quarter with two goals in 22 seconds, both assisted by freshman Brandon Williams. Luke Nevius fired in a sidearm bazooka from 16 yards. After a slashing penalty against Taylor Zelholf, Metheny tallied Orange’s first man-up goal with 10:26 remaining in the first half.

It felt like the Panthers had found their offensive legs after a sluggish first quarter, but that was the final time the game was tied.

Laberge added his second goal off an assist from Fortunes. After Orange’s Nick Cardone was called for slashing, Walden scored off an assist from Smith for the Chargers only man-up goal. Wimsatt responded with a sidearm shot assisted by Kruse with 1:12 remaining to make it 5-4 at halftime.

Walden bounced in his third goal to start the second half off a feed from Laberge. Metheny ripped his second goal off a feed from Kruse, but the Panthers were held scoreless for the final 5:28 of the third quarter. Smith’s second goal off a pass from Van Reece gave the Chargers a 7-5 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Cowan scored from the top of the box on a sidearm shot to begin the fourth quarter, but Northwood built a three-goal lead afterwards. Laberge completed his hat trick off a pass from Walden. Fortunes added his only goal of the game.

Orange fought back with two goals in 44 seconds, the first from senior Joe Cady. Josh Crabtree added another after an offside penalty to cut the Chargers lead to 9-8, but the Panthers couldn’t win a face-off. Coltrane Northington had a strong game for the Chargers at the face-off dot. Walden’s fourth goal with 3;08 remaining put the game on ice.

After Orange defeated Northwood on April 19 to complete a season sweep, it felt like the Panthers could punch its own ticket to the state championship game. It was why they played powerful 4A schools like Green Level and Wilmington Laney early in the season. Instead, the Chargers didn’t win a conference championship, but they did take a regional championship.

“It just sucks,” Zirkle said. “The kids did so much to try to get back to this point and try to take the next step. We weren’t able to do that. So it’s on to next year.”

It was a bitter disappointment for seniors Wimsatt, Cady, Cardone, Metheny, Josiah Tisdale, Braden Hunt, Seth Hall, Andrew Harris and Dalton Murphy, who leave after putting Orange lacrosse higher on the totem pole amid the crowded spring sports landscape in Hillsborough. Together, they won the first two conference championships in school history and hosted a regional title game twice with three trips to the state quarterfinals.

“We love them,” Zirkle said. “They left with the most wins in program history. They’ve done a phenomenal job.”

The Orange lacrosse team will go for its first regional championship tonight when they host Northwood at Auman Stadium. It will be the third matchup of the year between the Panthers and the Chargers. Senior defenseman Nick Cardone had a big hand in beating the Chargers on March 20. In an 11-8 Orange win in Hillsborugh, Cardone helped hold the Chargers to three goals in the final 17:51. Cardone had four ground balls and created two turnovers. Cardone has signed to play at Division II Catawba College. Junior defenseman Sascha Van Praag was in his native country, the Netherlands, at the beginning of the season. He has played seven games for Orange this season. Van Praag had six ground balls against Bishop McGuinness on April 24, a 10-9 Orange win. If the Panthers emerge victorious tonight, they will play for the 3A/2A/1A State Championship at Durham County Stadium either Friday or Saturday.