LaMange Climbing Career Scoring Lists for Annual Contender East Grand Rapids
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 30, 2024
East Grand Rapids senior Vivian LaMange entered this season 15th on the MHSAA career girls lacrosse goals list with 225, fifth on the career assists list with 172 and eighth on the career points list with 397.
Her single-season goals, assists and points for all of her first three seasons all made those lists as well, with highs of 102 goals last spring, 64 assists as a sophomore and 147 points a year ago in leading the Pioneers to a Division 2 runner-up finish and their fourth-straight Finals appearance.
She has signed with Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania.
See below for more recent updates to the MHSAA girls lacrosse record book and click the heading to see the record book in full.
Girls Lacrosse
Huron Valley United, a cooperative program with athletes from White Lake Lakeland and Milford, added 16 record book entries during the 2023 season, including as a team for 309 goals over 19 games – which ranks seventh on that list. Senior Emily Prell earned three single-game entries, two more for 76 goals and 120 points and career listings for 171 goals and 145 assists over 52 games and three seasons. Chloe Caldwell, a freshman in the spring, earned six single-game listings and two more for 88 goals and 107 points over 19 games.
Seven DeWitt players were added with a series of accomplishments over the last three seasons. Caleigh Randall, a 2022 graduate, was added 12 times including for 157 goals and 205 points over her three-season career interrupted by COVID in 2020. Kerrigan Brown, a 2021 graduate, was entered 10 times including for 149 goals and 221 points over her three-season career that also missed out on 2020. Elliana Hillard was added three times for 2023 achievements, including for 75 goals over 23 games, and teammates Ireland Brown and Taylor Young also earned listings. DeWitt as a team was added for its goal total all three seasons, with the high during that string of 323 goals over 22 games in 2021. Randall and Brown have continued their careers at Hope College. Hillard, Brown and Young are all seniors this school year.
Grand Ledge’s Averie Gordon concluded her career in 2021 with a pair of record book-scoring games. She made the single-game goals list with 10 against Holt and seven against Davison that spring.
Leah Reid capped her three-season Lansing Catholic career last spring among the all-time leading scorers both for goals and total points. She scored 73 over 17 games as a senior and finished with 205 goals (tied for 18th) and 236 points for her career. She and senior teammate Sarah Hicks both also made the single-game goals lists, senior Bella Hagen made the single-game assists list and now-senior Emily Putman made the single-game goalie saves list.
Warren Regina’s Holly Watson closed her three-season varsity career in 2023 with 18 record book entries, including some of the highest for goalies over the history of the sport at the MHSAA level. Watson finished with 176 saves over 18 games as a senior – tied for 16th-most – and her 545 saves over 42 games rank second on the career list.
Haslett/Williamston finished 19-3 last season on the way to the Division 2 Semifinals, led by several standouts who contributed to multiple record book entries for team achievements as well. H/W scored 291 goals over 22 games, led by then-freshman Abby Russell – who made single-season lists with 83 goals, 42 assists and 125 points. Breyer Fenech, a senior this spring, made season lists with 70 goals and 87 points, and she, Russell and senior Brianna Nedwick all made the single-game scoring list. Haslett/Williamston also gave up only 96 goals, with then-junior Kylie Pastor making the single-season saves list with 150, the single-game saves list for the second time, and also the career list with 402 and a season to play. Fenech is continuing at Maryland, Nedwick at Detroit Mercy, and Pastor has committed to Coastal Carolina. Additionally, 2021 graduate Natalie Kurdziel was added for seven goals in a game twice and 80 points during her senior season.
Troy Athens goalie Claire Balintfy added three more single-game saves performances to her list of record book listings in 2023, with her 197 saves over 18 games ranking eighth all-time (and with her 2022 total still second on the list). Balintfy is up to 522 career saves over 51 games and three seasons, ranking third on that record book list.
Rochester Adams was added for 245 goals over 18 games last season, and Lucy Lagman and Raegan Jerrell combined for 20 record book listings in goal and assist categories. Lagman had a game-high 10 goals and scored 103 for the season, and has 151 goals over her two-year varsity career. She also had 12 points in a game and 125 points for the 2023 season. Jerrell had seven goals in a game twice, five assists in a game three times, finished with 70 goals and 48 assists last season and also made the points list with 118. Additionally, Kate Kramm was added for eight goals in a game and 58 for the season over 18 games as a senior in 2022. Lagman is a junior this spring, and Jerrell is a sophomore.
PHOTO East Grand Rapids’ Vivian LaMange (24) is introduced before last season’s Division 2 Final.
Full-Strength Brighton Avenges Loss, Extends Championship Streak to 3-Peat
By
Jeff Bleiler
Special for MHSAA.com
June 7, 2024
ANN ARBOR — The Brighton High School girls lacrosse team was not at full strength when it faced — and lost to — Rockford earlier this season.
Neither Cecelia Mainhardt nor Ella Toth played in that game.
On Friday, the pair of all-staters introduced themselves to the Rams and carried Brighton to its third straight Division 1 Finals championship at the University of Michigan Lacrosse Stadium.
Mainhardt scored three goals and assisted on another, and Toth added a goal of her own to help Brighton to a 7-4 victory in the first Finals game contested at the U-M venue.
“It feels absolutely incredible. It’s hard to put into words,” said Brighton coach Ashton Peters, who capped her sixth season by capturing Brighton’s fourth lacrosse championship. “To do it in this setting and this stadium, it was an absolute honor.
“It’s school history for us. I don’t know that there’s a team at this school that’s had three state titles on the girls side, so we’re very happy.”
In a defensive game that was somewhat reminiscent of Rockford’s 10-5 regular-season victory, Brighton (19-5) made the most of its opportunities and held the Rams to just four first-half shots.
Toth opened the scoring with a goal at the 5:05 mark of the first quarter after the Bulldogs controlled the ball for the first four minutes of the period. Brooke Gordon tied the score for Rockford with a goal at the 2:22 mark after two straight shots clanged off the crossbar.
The second period was all Brighton as Mainhardt sandwiched two goals between a Sophia Heady score that Mainhardt assisted on to give the Bulldogs a 4-1 halftime advantage. Mainhardt and Heady scored 19 seconds apart, and Mainhardt’s second goal came with just 1.8 seconds left on the clock.
Rockford was far more aggressive during the third quarter, scoring twice on goals by Ashley Palmer and Aubree Frazier, but Georgia Gill’s goal kept Brighton ahead 5-3 entering the final quarter.
Mainhardt scored less than two minutes into the fourth, and Gill added another tally just over two minutes later before Frazier’s second goal of the game closed out the scoring with 3:36 to play just as a penalty to Mainhardt had expired. Brighton goalie Gabi Buckenberger came up with several clutch saves throughout the game to preserve the victory.
“It’s so amazing, it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before,” Mainhardt said. “Ever since we won my sophomore year, it’s a feeling I’ll never forget.”
Mainhardt missed the first game against Rockford with a concussion, and her return to the lineup in the Final, along with Toth’s, was a huge addition for the Bulldogs.
“We were like, this is a bummer because we really want to beat Rockford, but we also knew not having them in that game would put us in a spot where Rockford didn’t know them, which would be an advantage to us because of the talent those two bring to our team,” Peters said.
“The biggest thing for us today was we knew some of the things they did, but they didn’t know everything we could do.”
Rockford, which finished the season with a 13-8 record, was denied a 10th Division 1 title. Coach Mark Neumen said nerves might have played a part in the Rams’ second-lowest-scoring output of the season.
“A big venue like Michigan, I think the girls were really having a hard time getting going, getting the adrenaline,” Neumen said. “They were really not picking their spots like they normally do. They were shooting to shoot instead of getting those shots off like they normally do. That was the struggle we were having. We were getting good looks but just not finishing.”
Neumen was pleased with his defense, which held Brighton to just seven goals after the Bulldogs had outscored their four postseason opponents by a combined 63-32.
“Holding them to seven goals was probably better than I expected,” he said.
Brighton loses just four seniors, including Mainhardt, who will play at Grand Valley State University next year. Coincidentally, the team had four seniors last year, which Peters admitted she expected to be a rebuilding year.
But losing Mainhardt will be difficult, Peters said.
“She is an incredible player, all-around as an athlete, as a person, everything,” Peters said. “She’s exactly what a coach wants. And in the moments that we need her most, she steps up and she does everything that we need, and today that’s exactly what you saw. She’s going to be greatly missed next year.”
Calling her team “like a family,” Mainhardt said while she will miss playing with them, she will treasure the memories.
“This program has made me one of the best players I could have possibly been, especially the youth program,” she said. “The youth program is incredible, and I just thank my coaches and thank my teammates every day because they’re awesome.”
PHOTOS (Top) Brighton raises its championship trophy Friday evening at U-M Lacrosse Stadium. (Middle) Bulldogs goalie Gabi Buckenberger (29) defends as Rockford makes a run at her goal. (Below) Brighton's Kelly McKaig (3) attempts to gain possession while surrounded by Rams.