PITTSBORO–If they accomplish nothing else for the rest of this season, the Orange lacrosse team can say they came back from a 7-1 deficit to beat longtime rival Northwood. And they did it in Pittsboro.
While it was a great victory, Orange coach Chandler Zirkle would rather not reach the point where rallying from a six-goal deficit would be necessary from now on.
However, it was entirely required on Monday night after the Chargers roared out at home behind strong play from midfielders Will Smith and Ryan Brinker. But Northwood was without its leading scorer, Taylor Laberge, as well as defensive stalwarts Van Reece and Gianmarc Byers (both injured). Without them, Northwood suited up just 16 players, and one of those was backup goalkeeper Robbie Delgado.
Zirkle successfully managed the game into a battle of attrition that a heavily-manned Panthers squad was more than capable of dominating in the final minutes. Orange scored eight consecutive goals in the fourth quarter to come away with a 14-9 victory at Charger Stadium.
Sophomore midfielder Connor Kruse finished with five goals and three assists. Jake Wimsatt had three goals, all in the fourth quarter. Joe Cady added two goals.
Orange and Northwood entered the game undefeated in the Mid-Carolina Conference. The Panthers (6-2, 4-0 in the MCC) are scheduled to host Eastern Alamance on Wednesday at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough, then travel to Burlington to face Williams on Thursday night in the final game before spring break.
“We didn’t play the solid game we needed to play,” said Zirkle. “So we needed to get into that mode. The biggest part of the game was making things tighter in the second quarter. Because if go to halftime down four or five goals, you’re spending ten minutes trying to figure out how you’re going to lose.”
The Panthers also ended a five-game losing streak inside Chargers Stadium. Orange, who lost 17-6 last year at Northwood, claimed its first victory in Pittsboro since they defeated the Chargers 9-7 to start to 2015 season under previous head coach David O’Neal.
After Northwood’s William Johnson scored from an 18-yards away with 8:47 remaining in the first half to put the Chargers ahead 7-1, the Panthers scored four consecutive goals. Kruse factored in on all four, assisting on a goal by Cady with 8:01 remaining in the second quarter. Kruse scored the final three goals of the half, including a bounce shot off a feed from Josh Crabtree. With 12.8 seconds left, Kruse took a centering pass from Tight Metheney and sent an overhand shot into the lower right corner of the net to reduce Northwood’s lead to 7-5 going into halftime.
Smith, who finished with four goals, opened the second half with a shot past Orange goalkeeper Katie Wolter with 7:22 remaining in the third quarter. From that point forward, the Chargers only scored one goal in the final 19:22 of the game.
Orange finished on a 9-1 run.
Wimsatt notched a hat trick in the fourth quarter. With Orange down 9-6 going, Wimsatt scored off an assist from Cady. On a critical ground ball at midfield, Orange defenseman Josiah Wimsatt knocked the ball over the centerline to Kruse, who fed Cady on the doorstop for a goal that put Orange within a goal at 9-8 with 9:40 remaining.
Orange junior Seth Hall, who won nine face-offs, won the subsequent draw. After a wide shot by Metheney, Kruse won the race to the end line to retain possession. Off the restart, Kruse came behind the cage, swept right and scored off the curl to tie the game 9-9, the first tie of the night.
Wolter stopped Smith on a bounce shot that turned out to be the Chargers’ final attempt to take the lead with 7:37 remaining. After both teams were whistled for offside penalties, the Panthers Andrew Harris, in his first shot of the game, took a pass from Kruse and fired a sidearm attempt into the right side of the net to vault Orange into the lead for good.
Brantley Porterfield added insurance with his only goal of the game off an assist from Metheney. Wimsatt scored twice more in the final minutes.
Wolter took the win in net, her sixth of the season, making ten saves.