Preview: Familiar Foes in Girls Lacrosse
June 5, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Finalists taking the field Saturday to decide this season’s MHSAA girls lacrosse championships shouldn't be surprised by much from their opponents on the other side of the field.
Rockford and Ann Arbor Pioneer face off in Division 1 in a rematch of an April 2 game that the Rams won but by the slimmest of margins – 10-9. Division 2 finalists East Grand Rapids and Okemos didn't play each other during this regular season but met in both the 2013 Semifinals and 2012 championship game – with the Pioneers winning both games.
Both games will be played at Rockford High School; the Division 1 game begins at 2 p.m. and the Division 2 Final starts at 4:30 p.m.
Click for more information including all results from this season's tournament. Both finals also will be streamed live on MHSAA.TV and broadcast on MHSAANetwork.com.
Here's a brief look at the four teams vying for championships (player statistics do not include Semifinals):
Division 1
ANN ARBOR PIONEER
Record/rank: 15-5, No. 4 at end of regular season
League finish: First in Southeastern Lacrosse Conference
Coach: Zachary Maghes, sixth season (84-36-2)
Championship history: Division 1 runners-up 2011 and 2007.
Best wins: 14-6 and 15-14 (Semifinal) over No. 7 Hartland, 14-11 over No. 6 Birmingham United, 13-12 over No. 5 Bloomfield Hills, 11-10 over Division 2 No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood.
Players to watch: Mercedes Reyes, sr. M (59 goals, 25 assists); Juliette Killough, jr. A (42 goals, 22 assists); Caroline Hurd, sr. M (34 goals, 14 assists); Stephanie Terrell, sr. M (32 goals, 13 assists).
Outlook: A team’s losses can sometimes indicate as much as its wins, and Pioneers’ are impressive – three of four in-state losses are to teams playing in this weekend’s championship games. Reyes was an all-state first-team selection last season and qualified for the MHSAA record book this spring – she added another seven goals in the Semifinal to take her total this season to 66. Starting goalie Lauren Chapman, a senior, also has been impressive – she is giving up only 5.6 goals per game.
ROCKFORD
Record/rank: 16-6-1, No. 1 at end of regular season
League finish: Second in Ottawa-Kent Rainbow Conference
Coach: Mike Emery, seventh season (119-34-6)
Championship history: Division 1 champion in 2013 and 2010.
Best wins: 11-3 over No. 2 Bloomfield Hills Marian, 12-7 and 14-9 (Semifinal) over No. 5 Bloomfield Hills, 10-9 over No. 4 Ann Arbor Pioneer, 22-11 over No. 9 Brighton, 16-3 and 10-7 over Division 2 No. 7 Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 16-15 over Division 2 No. 3 Caledonia, 6-5 over Division 2 No. 2 Okemos.
Players to watch: Meghan Datema, sr. M (58 goals, 16 assists); Alex Vandermolen, soph. M (50 goals, 14 assists); Kyleigh Egnatuk, sr. A/M (36 goals, 29 assists); Izzy Vickers, sr. M (34 goals, 29 assists).
Outlook: All but one player who scored in last season’s MHSAA Final will be back Saturday. Datema and Egnatuk both made the all-state second team last season, and Vandermolen earned an honorable mention. Datema, who added three more goals in the Semifinal, has qualified for the MHSAA record book single-season scoring list, and Vandermolen will do the same with two more goals in the championship game. Senior Kendall Short, who scored twice in last season’s Final, also had 29 goals coming into the week, with four more teammates scoring at least 10.
Division 2
EAST GRAND RAPIDS
Record/rank: 17-2, No. 1 at end of regular season
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Rainbow Conference
Coach: Rich Axtell, fifth season (95-16)
Championship history: Division 2 champion 2013 and 2012.
Best wins: 10-8, 9-8 and 9-8 (Regional Semifinal) over No. 3 Caledonia; 20-3 over No. 5 Grand Rapids Christian, 10-5, 16-8 and 22-5 (Regional Final) over No. 7 Grand Rapids Catholic Central; 12-10 over No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood (Semifinal), 11-9 and 11-10 over Division 1 No. 1 Rockford, 16-5 over Division 1 No. 4 Ann Arbor Pioneer, 15-9 over Division 1 No. 7 Hartland.
Players to watch: Liza Elder, jr. A (76 goals, 46 assists); Meggan Loyd, sr. A (31 goals, eight assists); Lexi Duca, soph. A (25 goals, 14 assists); Lindsay Duca, fr. A (27 goals, 16 assists).
Outlook: Similar to 2013, East Grand Rapids is arguably the top team in either division entering the weekend with a pair of wins over Division 1 No. 1 Rockford and a win as well over No. 4 Ann Arbor Pioneer, Rockford’s opponent in that division’s Final. East Grand Rapids has lost only four games over the last three seasons, and both this spring came to teams from out of state. Elder had two more goals and two more assists in Wednesday’s Semifinal win, and her 126 points rank seventh in MHSAA history for one season. She’s verbally committed to sign next year with collegiate powerhouse Northwestern University.
OKEMOS
Record/rank: 20-3, No. 2 at end of regular season
League finish: First in Capital Area Activities Conference
Co-Coaches: Donny Luberto and Charley Lawler, first seasons (20-3)
Championship history: Division 2 champions 2010 and 2009, runners-up 2012 and 2007.
Best wins: 9-7 over No. 3 Caledonia, 15-1 and 18-5 over No. 8 Haslett/Williamston, 15-4 over No. 6 Livonia Ladywood (Semifinal), 5-4 over Division 1 No. 6 Birmingham United, 9-6 over Division 1 No. 2 Bloomfield Hills Marian, 7-6 over Division 1 No. 5 Bloomfield Hills, 9-6 over Division 1 No. 4 Ann Arbor Pioneer.
Players to watch: Bailey Ellsworth, sr. A (55 goals, 16 assists); Kendall Luberto, soph. A (48 goals, 30 assists); Olivia Sherman, sr. A (46 goals, 27 assists); Courtney Humphrey, sr. D; Katie Johnson, sr. G (5.0 GAA, .700 save %); Alex King, sr. M (31 goals, 30 assists).
Outlook: Okemos opened with three wins over ranked Division 1 teams, and its only in-state loss came 6-5 to Division 1 No. 1 Rockford. One of the few top teams the Chieftains haven’t faced is East Grand Rapids, but they’re familiar after falling to the Pioneers 17-6 in the 2012 Final and 13-5 in last season’s Semifinal. Ellsworth added another goal Wednesday and also has qualified for the MHSAA single-season goals list. King was an all-state second-teamer last season and sophomore midfielder Angela Palmer adds another 36 goals – but defense might be what sets Okemos apart. Goalie Katie Johnson made the all-state first team as a junior, and Humphrey in front of her made the second team. No opponent in Michigan scored more than seven goals on Okemos this season.
PHOTO: Rockford senior Kyleigh Egnatuck (8) was a key part of last season’s Division 1 championship winner and will take the field again Saturday as the Rams look to repeat. (Click to see more at HighSchoolsSportsScene.com.)
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.