The Orange women’s soccer team knew it wasn’t going to be easy to win in the opening round of the state playoffs when they faced Harnett Central in Angier on Monday night. For starters, they had a 90 minute bus trip. What they didn’t know was that there would not one, but two, weather delays due to lightning. Nonetheless, when the game was stooped the second time, Orange was ahead 5-2 and had plenty of songs by Taylor Swift, Hannah Montana, Nirvana (?!), and Willie Nelson (???!!!) to get them through the delay. The night finally ended with Orange winning 5-3, its first win in the 3A State Playoffs since 2017. Junior goalkeeper Abby Monteith earned the win in net. Senior Bella Brown, who transferred to Orange from Burlington Christian Academy in 2020, scored a goal for the Lady Panthers. In 22 career games for Orange, Brown has scored 20 goals. Freshman Elliana Sullivan Gaddy notched two goals for the Lady Panthers, while Isabel Jones and Ella Wimsatt also scored. Freshman Caroline Cathey and junior Sydney Rogers earned assists. Orange will travel to face Cape Fear in Fayetteville on Thursday night. The Colts are the champions of the United Eight Conference, a 3A/4A league. Cape Fear went undefeated in league play this year. The opening kick will be at 6:30 on Thursday.

A decade ago, the Orange lacrosse team finished a winless conference season by losing to crosstown rival Cedar Ridge 15-3.

On Tuesday night, some 3,679 days after a largely ignored end to a forgettable season, the same Orange program hosted the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Men’s Lacrosse Championship game in front of thousands of fans at Auman Stadium.

It was a world of difference between what Orange lacrosse was then and what it is now. The storybook finish would have led the Panthers playing again in Cary this Friday night for the state championship.

That will have to wait.

The First Flight Nighthawks reeled off an 11-1 run at the end of the first quarter to beat Orange 13-7 at Auman Stadium on Tuesday night.

First Fight (12-3), who came into the season with only one state playoff win in school history, captured its first regional championship in lacrosse. They will face Lake Norman Charter for the 3A/2A/1A State Championship on Friday night at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.

Junior Jacob Gray continued a strong postseason with five goals to lead the Nighthawks. Gray scored eight goals against Cedar Ridge in a 14-10 win in the third round of the State Playoffs in Kill Devil Hills last Tuesday.

While hosting a regional championship game for the first time in school history will always be a point of pride for this Orange team, the loss to the Nighthawks will likely leave sour feelings. Last year, the Panthers played at a high level in losing to East Chapel Hill in the state quarterfinals at Auman Stadium. The Wildcats won, but Orange played well offensively. East had Alec Levy, whose five goals was enough to take the Wildcats to the regional final. Two teams played its best and the better one won.

Against the Nighthawks, the Panthers were held to its lowest scoring output of the season. While the Nighthawks defense may have been the best Orange has faced, the Panthers were sloppy offensively. Simple passes that Orange usually completes almost effortlessly wound up out of bounds or in the pockets of Nighthawk sticks. The Panthers were just 1-of-5 in man-up opportunities, rarely getting multiple shots on possessions when the Nighthawks had someone confined to the penalty box.

After Orange led 3-1 at the end of the first quarter, they were held to just one goal in the subsequent 23:26. Sophomore Connor Kruse and junior Joe Cady, Orange’s leading scorer with 136 points this season, was held without a goal for the first time this year.

First Flight longstick defenseman Cam Van Lunen, the son of head coach John Van Lunen, defended Kruse for much of the game.

Tigh Metheny and Jake Wimsatt each had two goals for Orange.

“We weren’t able to possess the ball the way we wanted to do it,” said Orange coach Chandler Zirkle. “I think we got caught up with how electric the crowd was. The moment got a little bit bigger than us.”

After Grey Crabtree knocked a loose ball into the net past First Fight goalkeeper Porter Smith, Orange led 3-1 at the end of the first quarter. Josh Cowan and Metheney opened the Panther scoring. Orange goalkeeper Katie Wolter made three saves from point-blank range against the Nighthawks in the first quarter and it appeared the Panthers were in good shape.

That changed very quickly.

Immediately in the second quarter, the Nighthawks assumed command. Joey Krieg scored in transition off a feed from Joe Wagner only 43 seconds into the frame. Grey tied the game after another fast break goal assisted by Van Lunen. After Orange’s Alden Cathey was called for a slashing penalty, senior Jackson Kelly notched his 23rd tally of the year on a diagonal pass from Krieg for the first man-up goal of the game. First Flight took its first lead 4-3 with 9:22 left in the first half and they were just getting warmed up.

Sophomore James Summerton went low to the bottom right corner against Wolter to make it 5-3. Kelly, Wagner and Grey (three goals in the first half) all scored in the final minutes of the second quarter to put the Nighthawks ahead 7-4 at the half.

Orange was no stranger to comeback wins in the regular season. They trailed Northwood 8-1 in Pittsboro on March 21 and still prevailed 14-9. They trailed the Chargers again 10-7 with 8:43 remaining on April 27, then finished the game with the final five goals to win 12-10.

There would be no rally on Tuesday. The Nighthawks kept Orange scoreless in the third quarter. Senior Nicholas Gardill, First Flight’s leading scorer, hat a hat trick in the third quarter. His final goal, assisted by Gray, gave First Flight an 11-4 lead.

Wimsatt scored Orange’s only man-up goal in a 6-on-4 situation in the fourth quarter. Joe Cady notched his lone tally after he whacked a rebound into the top of the net to cut the Orange deficit to 13-7 with 6:27 remaining. There was some left time for a miracle, but First Flight was too disciplined and ran out the clock as the faithful from Kill Devil Hills, who had driven four hours to Hillsborough, cheered on.

The Orange players got a standing ovation from the largest lacrosse crowd in Auman Stadium history. The Panthers’ following in lacrosse will likely only grow from here. A team that has twice as many sophomores as seniors will return all of its offensive weapons from a 17-3 team, the most successful in school history.

But for Zirkle as his Orange coaching staff, there’s pain right now which may only grow as the weekend approaches. In 2005, Chandler’s father, Franklin, took his East Chapel Hill Wildcats into Cary’s WakeMed Soccer Park (then called SAS Stadium) and won the North Carolina Lacrosse Association’s State Championship over Chapel Hill. Even now, 17 years later, the game’s final score of 10-2 just rolls off the tip of his tongue.

Chandler Zirkle was a ballboy for that East team. Now, his father is an assistant at Orange after amassing over 200 head coaching wins at East and Leesville Road. Zirkle wanted to coach in Cary this weekend, just like his father did in 2005. Now, he’ll explore how to get better with the bulk of a Mid-Carolina Conference Championship team returning for 2023 and a bevy of 8th graders arriving from Orange Middle School waiting to make their mark, some possibly sooner than later.

But for now, there’s just pain after a lost opportunity.

“First Flight played a really good game,” Zirkle said. “They had a really good defensive game plan. We had too many uncharacteristic turnovers and I’m not sure what they were based on. We just threw the ball away too much. It’s probably a product of not being fully ready for the moment. I think that’s probably more of it than anything else. We have a really young group. I hope at this time next year, we’re more ready for this.”

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior lacrosse attacker Billy Power. This season, Power helped Cedar Ridge host its first game in the 3A/2A/1A/ State Playoffs since 2017, when they won the Eastern Regional Championship. Power moved to Hillsborough in November and immediately found himself immersed in Cedar Ridge athletics. He played on the varsity men’s basketball team, but it was on the lacrosse field under head coach Cole Churchill where he made the biggest impact. Power was second on the team with 70 points this season. That included 50 goals. On April 27, Power scored four goals in the Red Wolves 8-7 overtime win over Bishop McGuinness, where Alex Castro scored the game-winning goal. This season, Power had ten hat tricks. That included five goals in an 18-12 victory over Western Alamance at Red Wolves Stadium. He also scored five goals in a 12-5 win over Seaford. This season, Power helped Cedar Ridge to its first win in the state playoffs in five years. As top scorers Roman Oguntoyinbo, James Clayton, Alex Castro and Logan Eckholm graduated next month, Power will take on a greater role for next year’s Red Wolves as they continue to move forward in the Mid-Carolina Conference. 

Caroline Fowlkes started her Cedar Ridge career by qualifying for the state championships in pole vaulting.

This week, she will end it there.

On Friday, Fowlkes earned her first regional championship, easily taking first place in the pole vault. In the 3A Mideast Track & Field Regional Championship at Franklinton High School, Fowlkes cleared eleven feet, outdistancing her nearest competitor by three feet.

Fowlkes has pole vaulting in her genes. Her mother competed at the University of Florida. Her father was a pole vaulter at the University of South Alabama in Mobile.

At Franklinton, Fowlkes added to her trophy case in what’s been her most successful outdoor season. Last month, she won the Central Carolina Conference championship with a personal best of 11-feet, six-inches at the John Kirby Sports Complex at Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane.

As a freshman in 2019, Fowlkes qualified for the state championships and finished ninth after she cleared ten feet.

In all eight events that Fowlkes has competed in this season, she has finished in first place. She has also competed in the high jump and finished in first place in a dual meet against Orange at Auman Stadium on April 20.

Fowlkes will have plenty of company during the 3A State Outdoor Track and Field Championships at North Carolina A&T State University on Friday.

For the second year in a row, Orange’s Spenser Hampton has captured a regional championship. In what turned out to be a 1-2 finish among Orange Panthers, Hampton won the 3,200 meters with a time of 9:51.41, narrowly holding off his teammate Gabriel Schmid, who clocked in at 9:52.98.

Cedar Ridge’s Roman Morrell finished sixth at 10:33.59. Morrell also finished fifth in the 800 meters at 2:01.06.

Hampton also finished 2nd in the 1,600 meters, an event he won in the 2021 Mideast Regional Championships at Southern Lee High School in Sanford. This year, Hampton came in at 4:33.05, only behind Carrboro’s Quinn Baker. Schmid also qualified for the state championships in the 1,600 with a third-place finish.

In continued a strong season for Orange’s long-distance running. Last fall, Hampton and Schmid were the top two runners for Orange’s cross county team that won the Mideast Regional championship and finished 3rd in the state.

Last June, Hampton won the Mideast Regional Championship in the 1,600 meters. At the state championships, Hampton finished 2nd in the 3,2000 meters.

Orange had three men’s relay teams qualify for the state championships.

Hampton and Schmid joined Ethan Horton and Nick Pell in setting a new school record in the 4×800 relay. Hampton, Schmid, Horton and Pell finished at 8:15.56. Northwood was the only team to finish ahead of Orange. The Chargers crossed the finish line at 8:14.78.

Orange’s 4×100 relay team came in fourth place at 43.67 seconds. The 4×200 team also wound up fourth at 1:31.79.

The Orange men’s track & field team finished in second place with 73.5 points, behind only Southern Nash. It was the best regional for an Orange men’s track & field team since they became a 3A team in 2012.

Orange senior Devin Goss came in 2nd in the 300 meter hurdles. Goss, who will make his first appearance in the state championships, finished at 42.08 seconds. Cape Fear’s Yazeare Pearsall came in first at 41.45 seconds.

Jeffrey Faulkner, Orange’s top sprinter, qualified for the state championships for the first time. In the 400 meter dash, Faulkner finished at 50.80 seconds. Clifton Davis of Walter Williams claimed the regional championship at 49.90. Faulker finished sixth in the 200 meter dash.

In women’s track and field, Orange’s Grace Pell finished tied for third in the high jump at 4-feet, 10-inches.

This Week’s Orange Panther of the Week is sophomore pitcher Cross Clayton. In March, Clayton became a permanent part of the Panthers’ starting rotation. That was one of the moves that led to Orange winning the Central Carolina Conference regular season championship. In his first year at the varsity level, Clayton leads the team with eight wins, the most by an Orange player in a single season since Bryse Wilson won ten in 2016. On Tuesday night, Clayton came on in relief and got the victory over Cedar Ridge in nine innings. Clayton is 8-2 with a 2.45 ERA this season. Clayton has a 23-inning scoreless streak that spanned four games, starting on April 8 against Person when he shutout the Rockets in a 10-0 win. He’s also made his presence with his bat. On April 12, Clayton hit a solo home run against Northwood. In the eighth inning of that game, Clayton hit the game-winning single off the fence in centerfield. On Thursday, Clayton earned the start in the Panthers’ 8-5 victory over Terry Sanford in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs. Clayton has been an instrumental part in the winningest Orange team since 2016. 

At the conclusion of the film Wall Street, a wise character named Lou Mannheim tells Bud Fox, played by Charlie Sheen: “A man looks into the abyss, finds nothing staring back at him. At that moment, a man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.”

Twice this week, the Orange baseball team had moments where their season hung precariously by a thread. It would be easy to say that Orange found its character when they trailed Cedar Ridge 2-1 going into the bottom of the seventh inning on Tuesday night. Or during the sixth inning of Thursday’s game with Terry Sanford, when it appeared the Bulldogs were set to take its first lead of the game.

The truth is Orange has spent its season building its character. Starting with its season-opening win over Northern Durham on March 1, to losing a four-run lead late against Middle Creek to a forgettable day against Perquimans in Wilson at midseason. Losses against New Hanover and Ashley all paved the way for several defining moments that paid off handsomely by senior Conner Funk on Thursday night.

Funk knocked in the game-winning run in the sixth inning, then completed his first win of the season by striking out Brady Gore for the final out to lead Orange past Terry Sanford 8-5 in the 2nd round of the NCHSAA 3A State Playoffs in Hillsborough. The Panthers advanced to face J.H. Rose, the defending 3A State Champions, on Tuesday night in Greenville.

It’s the first time that Orange (18-8) advanced to the Round of 16 in the state playoffs since 2017.

Terry Sanford, the champions of the 4A/3A All-American Conference, ends the year 19-7.

“Conner comes through in all the crucial situations,” said Orange coach Jason Knapp. “Just look throughout his career the last two years. Every crucial play, he puts his stamp on it.”

Funk, who started the game at second base, was called in to pitch by Knapp with one out in the sixth inning–a time when the Bulldogs had a tidal wave of momentum. They had just tied the game after catcher Andrew Kittinger sprayed a fastball to the right field line that landed two feet fair in front of a sprinting David Waitt. Nathan Townsend scored to even the game 5-5 after the throw to the plate went over catcher Davis Horton’s head, which allowed Gehrig Hodges to advance to 3rd base and Kittinger to second with one out.

Inheriting two runners in scoring position, Funk calmly threw to Nathan Brown, who sent a soft pop-up back to the mound. After Funk made the catch, he struck out Alex Smith to end the inning and keep the score tied 5-5.

“Those were the biggest outs of our season,” Knapp said of Funk’s clutch pitching. “That kept the score tied and it gave us a chance to go ahead. No better guy I’d rather have the ball in that situation than him”

Jackson Berini walked to start the bottom of the sixth, which turned out to be the final batter for Brown, the Bulldogs’ starter. After Waitt bunted Berini to second, Ryan Hench sent another fly ball to right field that dropped in for a single. With Berini at third, Funk bopped a Baltimore chop over the head of third baseman Cameron Seagroves and into left field to score the game-winning run. Sophomore Cameron Gunetensberger lined a single up to the middle to bring in Hench and increase Orange’s lead to 7-5. Connor Nordan popped up a fly ball to foul ground in right field. Instead of letting it drop foul, Gore opted to catch it, which allowed Funk to score on a headlong, joyous dive to home plate for another insurance run as Funk celebrated with a joyous group of Orange reserves.

On a unseasonably cool mid-May night with overcast skies and occasional soft rain, the play was often just as peculiar as the weather. There were no less than three Baltimore chop base hits, including Funk’s game-winning RBI.

“It was probably the field maintenance guy’s fault,” joked Knapp, who obsesses over Orange’s field like Michael Myers does Haddonfield, Illinois. “The ball was hitting the front lip of the infield and it got some elevation.”

There were several pop fly balls to right field that ordinarily would have been comfortably caught that instead dropped harmlessly to the ground.

Orange bolted out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. After Berini led off the first with a single, Ryan Hench hit his team-leading fifth home run of the season over the infamous Panther porch in left field. In the second, Nordan drew a leadoff walk. Horton reached on an error at second base. With one out, Orange third baseman Neo Best sent the first Baltmore Chop of the night to the left side of a drawn-in infield, where it floated over the head of shortstop Brent Smith. Nordan scored to increase Orange’s lead to 3-0. With two out, Waitt grounded a single into left field to bring in Elijah Santos, a courtesy runner for Horton.

Clayton retired the first seven Bulldogs in order on just 17 pitches. Alex Smith reached on a single to right field in the third inning. With two outs, Brent Smith drew a key walk, which led to Seagroves sending a three-run homer to left field to cut Orange’s lead to 4-3.

“We weren’t shaken after that,” Knapp said. “We have dealt with adversity all season long. We’re seasoned for tough guys. Nothing shakes these guys confidence because that’s why we play these games in the regular season. To put ourselves in a position to win. When they hit that three-run bomb, we weren’t shaken one bit.”

Funk reached second to lead off the bottom of the third with another fly ball to right field somehow dropped between three Bulldogs. After Nordan walked, Horton singled to right-centerfield, but Funk was held at third. With the bases loaded, Codey Snipes was hit by a pitch, bringing in Funk.

Townsend sent the first pitch of the fourth inning down the left field line, where he landed fair by five feet across from the fair pole. Once again, Orange’s lead was cut to one run at 5-4.

Clayton, who earned the win in Tuesday’s win over Cedar Ridge after throwing two innings of relief, was going for his team-leading eighth win of the year. He came away with a no-decision in five-and-one-thirds innings.

J.H. Rose, the #1 seed in the 3A East Region, defeated Southern Lee 10-0 in five innings on Thursday.