![East Grand Rapids lacrosse](/sites/default/files/2022-06/220609_egr_2H.jpg)
Preview: Finalists to Face Familiar Foes for Girls Lacrosse Championships
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 9, 2022
Both of Saturday’s MHSAA Girls Lacrosse Finals will be rematches of regular season games this season. Both also mix championship game regulars with teams that have earned first or first-time-in-a-long-time opportunities.
In Division 1, Brighton is that regular, making its fourth-straight championship game appearance. The Bulldogs will face Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern, a cooperative that didn’t exist in this form until last season. FHNE defeated Brighton 15-7 and 11-7 this spring.
In Division 2, East Grand Rapids when it steps on the field will tie Rockford for the most championship game appearances in MHSAA girls lacrosse history. Country Day, meanwhile, will be returning to the Finals for the first time since 2005. EGR won the lone meeting between the teams, 15-14.
Below is a glance at all four teams playing at Rockford High School. Statistics are through Regional Finals. Rankings are based on the Michigan Power Rating formula used to seed other MHSAA sports. The Division 1 Final is set for 2 p.m., with Division 2 following at 4:30. Tickets cost $11 and are good for both games, and may be purchased online only at GoFan.
Both games will be broadcast and available with subscription from MHSAA.tv, with free audio broadcasts on the MHSAA Network.
Division 1
BRIGHTON
Record/ranking: 15-5, No. 6
League finish: Tied for first in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West
Coach: Ryan Skomial, first season (15-5)
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2011, runner-up four times.
Best wins: 14-7 over No. 4 Bloomfield Hills in Semifinal, 19-10 (Regional Semifinal) and 20-8 over No. 10 Northville, 12-11 over No. 3 Hartland, 20-5 over No. 5 Birmingham United, 19-16 over Division 2 No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.
Players to watch: Amanda Granader, sr. A; Gabriella Mainhardt, sr. M; Kaia Malachino, jr. M/D; Abigail Burchfield, sr. M; Ella Boose, sr. M. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: Brighton will be playing in its fourth-straight Division 1 championship game with a number of experienced standouts leading the way. Granader made the all-state first team last season, Mainhardt made the second, and Boose, Burchfield and Malachino all earned honorable mentions in 2021. The Bulldogs have won seven of their last eight games with the only losses this season to Northern/Eastern twice, No. 2 Rockford by a goal, Division 2 top-ranked East Grand Rapids and Division 2 No. 2 Detroit Country Day. Brighton has given up single-digit goals in three of four postseason games.
GRAND RAPIDS FOREST HILLS NORTHERN/EASTERN
Record/ranking: 17-1, No. 1
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1
Coach: Joe Curcuru, second season (32-7)
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 13-2 over No. 3 Hartland in Semifinal, 7-6 (Regional Final), 9-6 and 12-10 over No. 2 Rockford, 16-4 (Regional Semifinal) and 14-1 over No. 9 Haslett, 15-7 and 11-7 over No. 6 Brighton, 11-9 over Division 2 No. 1 East Grand Rapids, 13-6 over Division 2 No. 2 Detroit Country Day, 13-10 and 12-8 over Division 2 No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.
Players to watch: Alayna Davis, jr. A (89 goals, 36 assists); Tayler Sypien, sr. M (14 goals, 5 assists); Sommer Grieser, jr. G (5.33 goals-against average); Lexi Slywka, jr. A (31 goals, 26 assists); Daniella Washburn, sr. D (2 goals).
Outlook: In just its second season as a program, Northern/Eastern will play in its first championship game after formerly forming a cooperative with Forest Hills Central as well. FHNE avenged a Regional loss to Rockford last season with three wins this spring over the eight-time reigning Division 1 champion. The BirdDogs’ only loss came in their second game, to East Grand Rapids, which FHNE avenged late in the regular season. Davis, Washburn and Greiser made the all-state first team last year, and Slywka and Sypien made the second. Senior Carly Wittlinger (42 goals, 8 assists) and sophomore Mia Dye (30/14) also add significant scoring punch.
Division 2
DETROIT COUNTRY DAY
Record/ranking: 16-2, No. 2
League finish: Does not play in a conference.
Coach: Emma Kuehl, fourth season (48-5)
Championship history: Division 2 runner-up 2005.
Best wins: 18-12 over No. 5 Farmington Hills Mercy in Semifinal, 20-10 (Regional Semifinal) and 18-4 over No. 10 Bloomfield Hills Marian, 15-10 (Regional Quarterfinal) and 19-7 over No. 7 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 19-16 over Division 1 No. 6 Brighton, 21-3 over Division 1 No. 9 Haslett, 24 -8 over Division 1 No. 10 Northville, 21-6 over Division 1 No. 5 Birmingham United.
Players to watch: Hadley Keating, soph. A (70 goals, 16 assists); Olivia Winowich, fr. M (48 goals, 10 assists); Emma Arico, soph. M (45 goals, 22 assists); Ainsley Shilling, sr. M (35 goals, 19 assists); Ella Thompson, sr. M (47 goals, 14 assists).
Outlook: The Yellowjackets have returned to Finals weekend for the first time since the first season of MHSAA sponsorship of girls lacrosse. And this could be just the start of a run, with eight freshmen and sophomores among the 12 starters. Their only losses were to top-ranked teams – East Grand Rapids and Division 1 Forest Hills Northern/Eastern – and they’ve given up more than 10 goals only three times this season, in those losses and the Quarterfinal win over Mercy. Thompson and Arico made the all-state second team last season, and Keating and Shilling earned honorable mentions.
EAST GRAND RAPIDS
Record/ranking: 19-2, No. 1
League finish: Tied for second in O-K Tier 1
Coach: Meggan Loyd, first season (19-2)
Championship history: Seven Division 2 championships (most recent 2021), runner-up in 2017.
Best wins: 22-8 (Semifinal) and 17-3 over No. 9 DeWitt, 12-11 (Regional Final), 24-17 and 21-17 over No. 3 Forest Hills Central, 17-7 (Regional Semifinal) and 22-8 over No. 6 Spring Lake, 23-13 (Regional Quarterfinal), 23-18 and 16-5 over No. 8 Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 15-14 over No. 2 Detroit Country Day, 15-11 over Division 1 No. 1 Forest Hills Northern/Eastern, 15-11 over Division 1 No. 6 Brighton, 22-9 over Division 1 No. 3 Hartland, 12-11 over Division 1 No. 2 Rockford, 14-4 over Division 1 No. 10 Northville.
Players to watch: Lucy Cavanaugh, sr. A (29 goals, 53 assists); Lizzie Lundeen, sr. M (58 goals, 8 assists); Caroline Potteiger, sr. G (.459 save %); Vivian LaMange, soph. A (42 goals, 38 assists); Eliana LaMange, sr. M (45 goals, 20 assists).
Outlook: The reigning Division 2 champion also won in 2019 and five straight titles from 2012-16, and lost this season only in its first meeting with Rockford (by two) and second with FHNE (also by two goals). Eight seniors fill the starting lineup. Cavanaugh, Lundeen and Potteiger are returning all-state first teamers, midfielder Eleanor Vander Molen was a second-team selection last season and Eliana LaMange and Vivian LaMange earned honorable mentions in 2021. Vander Molen (13 goals), sophomore Olivia Shaw (18), senior Mary Mehney (13) and senior Ella Gjorgjievski (12) have further bolstered the team’s total of 368 goals (17.5 per game) this spring.
PHOTO East Grand Rapids' Eliana LaMange (24) sends a shot during last season's Division 2 championship game.
![Girls Spring Sports](/sites/default/files/2022-04/220412_titleix_2H.png)
Title IX at 50: Anticipation High as 45,000 Girls Return to Spring Sports
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 12, 2022
Nearly 45,000 Michigan female high school athletes are expected to participate in sports across both peninsulas this spring to cap off the 2021-22 school year.
During the 2020-21 school year, track & field was the most popular girls spring sport – and third most popular girls sport overall – with 12,739 participants. Both girls soccer and softball in Spring 2021 drew more than 11,000 athletes, with girls lacrosse just under 3,000, Lower Peninsula girls tennis at nearly 7,000 and Upper Peninsula girls golf at just more than 100.
The first girls spring MHSAA Finals championships were earned in 1973 in track & field, with Lincoln Park and Marquette winning Open Class titles in their respective peninsulas. The first Upper Peninsula Girls Golf Finals actually had been played in Fall 1972, but that sport moved to spring for the 1973-74 school year. Softball became an MHSAA-sponsored tournament sport in 1975.
Lower Peninsula girls golf also was played during the spring from its MHSAA tournament start in 1973 until the court-ordered move to fall beginning in 2007 – which saw girls tennis in the Lower Peninsula switch to the spring in its place.
Girls soccer was added to the MHSAA girls spring tournament lineup in 1983. Girls lacrosse (and boys lacrosse) were added to the MHSAA series of sponsored tournament sports in 2005.
This season’s Finals for girls sports begin with U.P. golf, which can play its championship tournaments as early as June 1, and will conclude with softball and soccer title games June 18.
Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.
Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights
April 5: Regina's Laffey Retiring as Definition of Legendary - Read
March 29: Edison's Whitehorn named 2022 Miss Basketball - Read
March 22: Carney-Nadeau Sets Girls Hoops Standard with 78-Win Streak - Read
March 15: Binder Among Voices Telling Our Story on MHSAA Network - Read
March 8: 28 Years, Thousands of Cheers - Read
March 1: Kearsley Rolls On Among Girls Bowling's Early Successes - Read
Feb. 22: Marquette Ties Record for Swim & Dive Finals Success - Read
Feb. 15: Jaeger's 2004 Winter Run Created Lasting Connection - Read
Feb. 8: Marian's Cicerone to Finish Among All-Time Elite - Read
Feb. 1: WISL Award Honors Builders of State's Girls Sports Tradition - Read
Jan. 25: Decades Later, Edwards' Legend Continues to Grow - Read
Jan. 18: Iron Mountain Completes Championship Climb - Read
Jan. 11: Harrold's Achievement Heralds Growth of Girls Wrestling - Read
Dec. 20: Competitive Cheer Gives Michigan Plenty to Cheer About - Read
Dec. 14: Evelyn's Game Had Plenty of Magic - Read
Dec. 7: Council Term Ends, But Leinaar Leaves Lasting Impact - Read
Nov. 30: Basketball Season Ready to Add to Rich Tradition - Read
Nov. 23: Marysville Builds Winning Streak Yet to be Challenged - Read
Nov. 16: Wroubel Has Championed Girls School Sports from Their Start - Read
Nov. 9: Pioneer's Joyce Legendary in Michigan, National Swim History - Read
Nov. 2: Royal Oak's Finch Leading Way on Football Field - Read
Oct. 26: Coach Clegg Sets Championship Standard at Grand Blanc - Read
Oct. 19: Rockford Girls Set Pace, Hundreds After Have Continued to Chase - Read
Oct. 12: Bedford Volleyball Pioneer Continues Blazing Record-Setting Trail - Read
Oct. 5: Warner Paved Way to Legend Status with Record Rounds - Read
Sept. 28: Taylor Kennedy Gymnasts Earn Fame as 1st Champions - Read
Sept. 21: Portage Northern Star Byington Becomes Play-by-Play Pioneer - Read
Sept. 14: Guerra/Groat Legacy Continues to Serve St. Philip Well - Read
Sept. 7: Best-Ever Conversation Must Include Leland's Glass - Read
Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read
PHOTOS Spring Sports (MHSAA file photo)