Unexpected Return Propels EGR to 3-Peat
June 7, 2014
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
ROCKFORD – East Grand Rapids senior captain Charlotte Hooker was determined to make it back and play at least one game of her senior lacrosse season.
Hooker reached that goal and then some as she came back from injury in time to play in both the MHSAA Semifinal and Saturday’s Division 2 lacrosse championship game against Okemos.
Hooker scored goals in both games, including one in the title match to help the Pioneers defeat Okemos 11-7 to win a third consecutive MHSAA championship.
“This is very special because I’m a senior and a captain, and this was the final game of my high school career,” Hooker said. “A lot of people didn’t think I would make it back, but I was determined.”
Hooker suffered a torn labrum and underwent surgery in February, leading to months of physical therapy. Doctors told her she would not be able to play her senior year.
“I was not planning on making it back, but physical therapy went so well that I knew I had a chance to make it back in time,” Hooker said. “I really wanted to make it back and play at least one game of my senior season.”
Hooker returned in time to help the Pioneers defeat Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood in the Wednesday Semifinal and then took the field against Okemos in a rematch of last season’s Semifinal and the 2012 Division 2 championship game.
With the Final tied 6-6 midway through the second half, Hooker scored as part of a four-goal run that gave East Grand Rapids control up 10-6.
While many doubted Hooker’s ability to make it back from injury, many also doubted they would see the Pioneers in the Finals again after graduating 12 starters from last year’s team.
“This one is very special because no one thought our team was this strong,” Hooker said. “It was real special to prove to everyone that we could do it again.”
Okemos suffered from the injury bug in the opening minutes Saturday. Sophomore standout Kendall Luberto suffered a severe ankle injury and was lost for the game. She entered the game as one of Okemos’ top offensive players with 48 goals and 30 assists this spring.
“I think our girls played tough,” Okemos coach Donny Luberto said. “One of our starters went down in the first three minutes of the game, and that threw us out a bit. But the girls played tough. I knew they would keep fighting and keep playing tough.”
Okemos battled the entire 50 minutes while attempting to become the first Michigan high school team to defeat East Grand Rapids since 2010. Okemos scored the first two goals before the Pioneers came back to tie the match 2-2.
Okemos again battled back and went up 4-2 before East Grand Rapids closed out the first half with four consecutive goals to take a 6-4 lead.
“They (Okemos) are a class program,” East Grand Rapids coach Rich Axtell said. “They have won two state titles, and we knew they would be tough."
Senior Meggan Loyd scored three of East Grand Rapids’ first-half goals and led the Pioneers with four for the game. For Loyd, the title was the fourth MHSAA championship she has won at EGR as she had been on the previous two lacrosse title teams and also won one with the Pioneers volleyball team.
“I think this one means the most,” Loyd said. “Being a senior and people not expecting us to win it this year, it was also the toughest. We had to work harder to get this one. All of our playoff games were close. We beat Caledonia by one goal in the Regional and Cranbrook by two in the Semifinals.”
Junior Liza Elder came into the game as the offensive leader of the Pioneers with 78 goals and 48 assists. She added three goals and will be one of the leaders next season as the Pioneers look to win a fourth straight championship.
“We had a very young team this year,” Elder said. “We knew we had to work extra hard to make it back. We started working out in the weight room back in September to get ready for this year, and we just kept going. We played some real tough games this year but nobody ever gave up.”
PHOTOS: (Top) East Grand Rapids and Okemos players contend for the ball during the MHSAA Division 2 Final at Rockford. (Middle) The Pioneers' Liza Elder works for position as she awaits a pass Saturday.
Preview: Finalists Take Familiar Road
June 7, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The favorites will be familiar and the challengers are on their way heading into Saturday’s Girls Lacrosse Finals at Novi High School.
Division 1 top-ranked Rockford and Division 2 top-ranked East Grand Rapids have won a combined 12 MHSAA Finals titles, and even shared their league championship this spring. But Brighton will play in its fourth Division 1 championship game, and second straight, while Marian is back on the final day of the season for the third time.
The Division 2 Final will be played at 2 p.m., followed by Division 1 at 4:30. Both will be broadcast on MHSAA.tv, available with subscription, with audio available on MHSAANetwork.com. Click for more information, including all tournament results.
Below is a look at all four contenders, with player statistics through Regional Finals unless noted.
Division 1
BRIGHTON
Record/rank: 16-7-1, No. 4 at end of regular season
League finish: Third in Kensington Lakes Activities Association
Coach: Ashton Peters, second season (24-7-1)
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2011, runner-up 2018 and 2010.
Best wins: 12-10 over No. 3 Hartland in Semifinal, 21-4 (Regional Semifinal) and 17-10 over No. 10 Novi, 14-7 over No. 7 Northville, 15-10 over No. 6 Birmingham United, 11-10 (Regional Final) and 12-9 over No. 5 Ann Arbor Pioneer. Players to watch: Riley Browne, jr. M/D; Cat Kophcia, jr A; Jenna Miodonski, sr. G. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: Brighton certainly earned its way back to the championship game, defeating a number of opponents ranked just below it throughout the season and then avenging two earlier losses with the Semifinal win over Hartland. The Bulldogs have given up single-digit goals in 12 games, and Brown recently was name all-state first team with Kophcia making the second.
ROCKFORD
Record/rank: 14-5-1, No. 1 at end of regular season
League finish: Tied for first in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1
Coach: Mike Emery, 12th season (214-48-7)
Championship history: Division 1 champions 2010, 2013-18.
Best wins: 20-6 (Semifinal) and 20-3 over No. 6 Birmingham United, 16-8 (Regional Final), 15-5 and 13-8 over No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills United, 13-12 over Division 2 No. 1 East Grand Rapids.
Players to watch: Karrington Vander Molen, sr. A/M (34 goals, 7 assists); Sydney Zimmerman, jr. M (43 goals, 16 assists); Isabelle Holmes, sr. A (24 goals, 34 assists); Madelyn Yakes, jr. G (.429 save percentage); Madison Kleefisch, jr. D/M (17 goals, 3 assists). (Statistics through 15 games.)
Outlook: The Rams will play for their seventh consecutive Division 1 championship with a number of familiar faces from title runs of the recent past. Vander Molen, Zimmerman, Holmes, Yakes and Kleefisch have made the all-state first team, while senior defenders Anna Glynn and Shae Strehl made the second and junior defender Bailey Banfield made the second team in 2018. Rockford also has given up single-digit goals in 12 games, including all four of the postseason. Four of the losses and the tie came to teams from Illinois or Ohio.
Division 2
BLOOMFIELD HILLS MARIAN
Record/rank: 20-1, No. 2 at end of regular season
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic League
Coach: Sherry Elliott, third season (48-10)
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up 2009 and 2015.
Best wins: 15-13 over No. 4 Okemos in Semifinal, 17-16 (OT) over No. 8 Farmington in Regional Final, 18-9 (Regional Quarterfinal) and 18-14 over No. 3 Detroit Country Day, 16-13 and 12-10 over No. 6 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 20-10 over No. 10 Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 11-10 over Division 1 No. 6 Birmingham United, 15-12 over Division 1 No. 5 Ann Arbor Pioneer, 16-6 over Division 1 No. 4 Brighton, 15-13 and 18-2 over Division 1 No. 9 Troy.
Players to watch: Mia Hannawa, jr. M (54 goals, 4 assists); Amanda Timmis, jr. M (37 goals, 13 assists), Coco Chinonis, soph. A (77 goals, 13 assists); Anna Reaume, sr. D; Eliana Delusky, soph. G (.460 save percentage).
Outlook: Marian made it into the season’s final week for the first time since its 2015 runner-up season, its only loss this spring in the second of a three-game series with Cranbrook and by just one goal. Hannawa and Reaume recently were named to the all-state first team, while Delusky and Timmis made the second and Chinonis earned honorable mention. Marian has shown it can pull out a close game, going 8-1 in those decided by four goals or fewer. Junior attack Tessy Klein had added another 43 goals and 12 assists entering the week.
EAST GRAND RAPIDS
Record/rank: 23-2, No. 1 at end of regular season
League finish: Tied for first in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1
Coach: Rich Axtell, 10th season (195-33)
Championship history: Division 2 champions 2012-16, runner-up 2017.
Best wins: 24-6 (Semifinal), 25-2 and 19-5 over No. 6 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood; 20-3 (Regional Final), 18-8 and 22-4 over No. 7 Grand Rapids Christian; 25-7 (Regional Semifinal), 24-4 and 16-6 over No. 10 Grand Rapids Catholic Central; 23-9 over No. 5 Mattawan, 12-8 over Division 1 No. 1 Rockford, 20-13 and 15-4 over Division 1 No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills United, 18-7 over Division 1 No. 3 Hartland, 15-6 over Division 1 No. 4 Brighton.
Players to watch: Mary Schumar, sr. A (87 goals, 53 assists); Emily Bergstrom, sr. D; Olivia Grogan, jr. D; Audrey Whiteside, sr. A (131 goals, 52 assists); Lily Kate Rogers, sr. G (5.3 goals-against average, .410 save percentage).
Outlook: After missing the Finals for the first time in six seasons last spring, East Grand Rapids has stormed back with losses this year only to Rockford by a goal (a defeat since avenged) and New Trier, Illinois. Whiteside’s goal total ranks fourth all-time, and she needed just one more goal to tie for third. But she and Schumar hardly are the only offensive stars, with seven players total scoring at least 22 goals entering the week and five tallying at least 13 assists. Junior Anna Knuble is next on the leaderboard in both with 42 goals and 21 assists. Whiteside, Schumar, Grogan and Rogers made the all-state first team, and Bergstrom made the second.
PHOTO: Rockford’s Sydney Zimmerman carries the ball and considers her options during last season’s Division 1 Final win over Brighton.