Highlight Reel: Girls Lacrosse Regionals
May 28, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
The Hartland and Lake Orion girls lacrosse teams advanced to Friday’s Division 1 Regional Final with victories Wednesday that were broadcast on MHSAA.tv.
A collection of highlights are linked below – click on the headings to see each.
Hartland 16, Midland 8
Early Lead For Hartland Amy Longe takes a pass from Danielle Porath and scores for Hartland early in the first half to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
Oliverio Scores On The Restart Hartland goes up 7-2 at the end of first half after Shelby Oliverio scores off a restart.
Carly Takes It Coast To Coast Midland cut the Hartland lead to 7-3 in the closing seconds of the first half when Carly Dalessandro takes it all the way down the field to score.
Milholland Gets Second Quick Goal Midland wasn’t done late in the first half, as Caroline Milholland muscles her way to the net for her team's second goal in 30 seconds.
Eagles Flying High Hartland puts the game out of reach early in the second half. Casandra Pankowski takes a pass in front and scores.
Midland Strikes Back Midland scores off the ensuing draw, with Caroline Milholland scoring again.
Longe Goes Low Amy Longe picks up a second half goal for Hartland on a low shot at close range.
Cavaliers Circle & Score Midland's Amy Sklenar circles the net for a second half goal against Hartland.
Pankowski Second Half Goal Casandra Pankowski takes a pass and scores for Hartland in the second half against Midland.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Lake Orion 13, Waterford United 9
Dragons Respond It only took a few seconds for Lake Orion to respond to the game's first goal by Waterford United. Off the draw, Darcy Muns takes the ball and races in for the score.
Rooney Counters For United Watch Faith Rooney circle around and score in the first half for Waterford United against Lake Orion.
Nice Move By Lazzara Watch this great spin move by Lake Orion's Alexandra Lazzara to score against Waterford United.
Mori Moves In To Score Emily Mori works hard to get one-on-one with the goalie and score for Waterford United in the first half against Lake Orion.
Muns Gets It Back Darcy Muns of Lake Orion takes a pass in the middle, spins and scores.
Muns Again Darcy Muns gave Lake Orion an 8-5 halftime lead with this goal in the closing minute.
Haley Makes United Pay Lake Orion's Haley Vanek intercepts a pass and scores quickly for the Dragons early in the second half.
Vanek On Another Pick Off It didn't take long for Haley Vanek to get another steal and turn it into a goal for Lake Orion early in the second half. This one turned out to be the game-winner.
Johnson Scores For United Waterford United got back within three when Payton Johnson took a pass and scored.
Klebba Puts It In Off a restart, Lake Orion's Rachel Klebba takes a pass and drives in for a goal.
Oliver Posts One For United Nice play here by Waterford United's Sydni Oliver to keep her team in the game against Lake Orion.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Super Scorer Marosi, Grand Rapids Catholic Central Complete Perfect Run
By
Jeff Bleiler
Special for MHSAA.com
June 7, 2024
ANN ARBOR — As the final minutes dwindled to seconds, Joe Curcuru was content knowing No. 22 possessed the ball.
It was fitting that Claire Marosi had the ball last as the clock struck zero and the celebration was on for the Grand Rapids Catholic Central girls lacrosse team, which completed an undefeated season by beating defending Division 2 champion Detroit Country Day 10-9 in the Final at University of Michigan Lacrosse Stadium.
Marosi, a senior, added two massive fourth-quarter goals to the 152 she already had scored this year as the Cougars completed a 23-0 season and collected their second Finals trophy and first since 2011.
But after defeating Country Day twice this season by 17-7 and 20-7 scores, the Cougars needed just about every second to fend off the Yellowjackets. And that was no surprise to Curcuru.
“They’re a terrific team. To be the best, you have to beat the best. And they’re the defending state champ. We knew it would be a battle back and forth,” said Curcuru, who had led Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern to Division 1 runner-up finishes the last two seasons before making the move to Catholic Central.
Hadley Keating opened the scoring for Country Day just 14 seconds into the game, followed swiftly by a Sarah Rott answer 11 seconds later that tied the game at 1-1. Catholic Central poured in four more first-quarter goals — two each from Cate Marshall and Mairin Ziegler — to sit ahead 5-1.
“I think we started a little bit slow, and that kind of got us on our heels,” said Country Day coach Liz Nussbaum, whose team finished 17-4-1 with three losses to Catholic Central. “But I’m so proud of how our team was able to push back and not let a couple runs get us down.”
Mary Pavlou scored the first of her three goals for Country Day in the second quarter, and after Rott re-established a four-goal cushion for the Cougars, Olivia Winowich and Emma Arico pulled the Yellowjackets to within 6-4 inside of two minutes to play in the first half. Marshall’s third goal of the game gave the Cougars a 7-4 halftime lead.
The third quarter was all Country Day as Arico added two more scores and Pavlou had her second of the game to pull Country Day even entering the fourth. Country Day outshot Catholic Central 21-7 over the middle two quarters, including 10-2 during the third.
Keating gave Country Day an 8-7 lead 1:34 into the fourth, and that seemed to ignite Marosi and the Cougars. Curcuru moved her to the draw circle, and Marosi responded with back-to-back goals 1:15 apart to restore her team’s lead.
“I think it was a game of swings,” Marosi said. “(Country Day) had the momentum, then we had the momentum. Just to finish with momentum on our side was really helpful. I think we all knew when it comes down to it, we would pull it off.”
Rott scored what proved to be the game-winner midway through the fourth quarter, but Country Day was not done, pulling within one on Pavlou’s goal with 4:17 to play. Catholic Central goalie Samaya Dean, who finished with 10 saves, made a massive one with less than two minutes to play by turning away what would’ve been the game-tying goal.
That’s about the time Marosi took control of the ball, drawing two penalties inside the final minute while playing keep-away and bleeding the clock.
“I told her after the game, there is nobody else in the state of Michigan I want with that ball than her,” Curcuru said. “It felt long, but it also felt good because I knew 22 had it for us.
“Claire not only is an incredible athlete, she’s so competitive and such a great leader. To have someone who can say, ‘When things are going tough, jump on my back. I’ll carry you a little bit.’ And that’s what Claire does for us every single day. And you saw it today. When we needed her the most, she came up the biggest.”
Marosi is heading to Northwestern University to play lacrosse after finishing with the third-most goals all-time for a single season with 154.
Catholic Central’s 10 goals were its fewest of the season and came after the Cougars outscored their first four postseason opponents by a combined 85-23. Nussbaum credited her team’s defense and the play of goalie Campbell Lindner for limiting the Cougars’ potent offense.
“Campbell really stepped up in the net. I‘m really proud of how she was able to make some of those key saves in those key moments,” Nussbaum said. “We definitely made tweaks (from the previous two games against Catholic Central), but at the end of the day I believe in the quality of our athletes.”
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Rapids Catholic’s Central’s Claire Marosi (22) works to gain possession while chased by a pair of Country Day players Friday. (Middle) The Cougars’ Cate Marshall (1) flips the ball to teammate Sarah Rott while Country Day’s Sadie Rifkin (17) guards the net. (Below) The Cougars celebrate their first Finals championship since 2011.