Country Day Makes Unforgettable Score Go Its Way in Division 2 Rematch
By
Drew Ellis
Special for MHSAA.com
June 7, 2025
ANN ARBOR – The score 10-9 carried a lot of frustration for the Detroit Country Day girls lacrosse team over the last year.
Now, it will be a score the Yellowjackets never want to forget.
After coming up on the short end of a 10-9 loss to Grand Rapids Catholic Central in the 2024 Division 2 championship game, Country Day managed to flip the script Saturday at the University of Michigan with a 10-9 overtime victory in a rematch with the Cougars.
“I feel like that score was burned into all my players’ minds after last year,” Detroit Country Day coach Liz Nussbaum said. “We started preparing the next day after (the 2024 Final). Last year we came in with two losses (against GRCC), this year we came in with two wins, so I think that gave us more of a confidence boost. … I had so much confidence that we were going to get it done.”
Saturday’s win clinched Detroit Country Day’s second Finals championship and also second over the last three seasons.
The two teams played to a 9-9 tie in regulation. The game-winning goal came a minute into overtime when Yellowjackets freshman Charlotte Cook attacked the goal and found the net to give Country Day the 10-9 advantage. The goal was the second of the day for the freshman, who received a premonition from a teammate heading into overtime.
“I just saw an opening,” Cook said of going for the game-winning goal. “I had been trying to go all day, but had been laying off. I didn’t want to push it too much. My teammate and one of my best friends, Adriana Zuk, told me I was going to get the winning goal. I saw an opportunity and I wanted to make her prediction come true, so I went for it.”
With the lead, Detroit Country Day (17-3) then had to rely on junior goalie Campbell Lindner. Fighting off exhaustion between regulation and the extra sessions, Lindner had to dig deep mentally to come through with a pair of saves to keep her team in the lead.
“Don’t get in your head, don’t lose your mind,” Linder explained of what she was telling herself going into overtime. “Stay calm, shoulders back. Don’t do things you usually wouldn’t do. Just play your game, be scrappy, and do what you know how to do, what you were trained to do.”
Nussbaum said that kind of mentality has defined her goalie all season.
“It took her a minute to get into her head space, but once she did, she was unstoppable,” Nussbaum said of Lindner, who finished the game with 10 saves.
Country Day had a pair of regular-season wins over the Cougars (16-6), but it was Grand Rapids Catholic Central that had control of the scoreboard most of the first half Saturday.
The Cougars jumped out to a 5-2 lead after one quarter and extended it to 6-2 early in the second as junior Lily Engstrom netted her third goal.
“We just talked about concentrating on the things we had done all year, and I felt like we did that,” GRCC coach Joe Curcuru said. “I think we had a pretty good game plan, and we were able to get those early loose opportunities.”
Country Day began to fight back down four, scoring four of the next five goals to make it a 7-6 deficit at halftime.
In the third, the Yellowjackets locked up the Cougars’ offense, keeping them off the scoreboard.
“Credit to (Country Day’s) defense, they started to tighten up and made things tougher for us, which is what a great team does,” Curcuru said.
A goal from DCD senior Georgia Pavlou tied the game at 7-7 entering the fourth.
“We have a lot more flexibility this year, a lot more options with what we can do. Mary and Georgia (Pavlou) are amazing leaders. I am going to miss them so much because they are the rock of the team,” Nussbaum said. “I had not a thought in my mind that they wouldn’t figure things out. They play a really tough zone for us and were able to settle things down.”
The Yellowjackets got their first lead in the fourth quarter when sophomore Jackie Calso put the ball between the GRCC goalie’s legs for her third goal of the game, making it 8-7.
The Cougars answered, with Engstrom scoring consecutive goals to give her six on the game and put GRCC up 9-8 with five minutes remaining in regulation.
Just less than four minutes later, Mary Pavlou would tie things up on a free protection shot. She would also create a turnover as GRCC attempted to get a game-winning shot attempt before overtime.
“We knew we were going to be in a close game,” Nussbaum said. “We were mentally ready for those tough moments, and it showed in the end.”
Calso’s three goals led Country Day, while Georgia Pavlou and Cook each scored twice. Pavlou added two assists.
Engstrom’s six goals led the Cougars, while Claire Sullivan had two assists. Goalie Samaya Dean recorded 11 saves.
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Country Day and Grand Rapids Catholic Central players face off during the Division 2 Final. (Middle) The Yellowjackets secure possession of a loose ball.
Preview: Girls Lacrosse Finals' Debut at U-M Just Start of Stories to be Told
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 6, 2024
Both of Friday’s MHSAA Girls Lacrosse Finals are filled with storylines, starting with their moves to a new day and a new home.
Contested Saturday in the past, the girls championship games will be played at 4 and 7 p.m. Friday and for the first time at University of Michigan Lacrosse Stadium.
Division 1 will lead off and feature two-time reigning champion Brighton against Rockford, the state record-holder with nine MHSAA Finals titles. Division 2 will match up one of the top single-season scorers in MHSAA history in Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Claire Marosi against one of the leaders on the career goals list, Detroit Country Day’s Hadley Keating. She and the reigning champion Yellowjackets will take on an undefeated GRCC team led by a first-year coach who is making his third-straight Finals appearance.
Below is a glance at all four teams playing at U-M. Rankings as part of “best wins” are based on the Michigan Power Rating formula. 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.
Division 1
BRIGHTON
Record/MPR: 18-5, No. 3
League finish: Second in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West
Coach: Ashton Peters, sixth season (74-28-1)
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2023), four runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 14-10 over No. 9 Bloomfield Hills in Semifinal, 18-6 over No. 6 Novi in Regional Semifinal, 17-6 and 19-11 (Regional Final) over No. 4 Northville, 8-7 over No. 2 Hartland, 9-8 over Division 2 No. 7 East Grand Rapids, 15-8 over Division 2 No. 4 DeWitt.
Players to watch: Gabi Buckenberger, sr. G (7.1 goals-against average, 111 saves). Cecilia Mainhardt, sr. M (41 goals, 15 assists); Ella Toth, jr. A (46 goals, 17 assists); Georgia Gill, sr. A (73 goals, 35 assists).
Outlook: Brighton has won the last two Division 1 championships and will be playing in the title game for the sixth-straight season. There is a load of crunch-time experience, starting with repeat all-state first-team selections Buckenberger and Mainhardt and repeat second-team honoree Toth. Gill also made the second team this season, along with junior defenders Keelin Ehman and Nya Nemecek, with junior attack Sophia Heady (38 goals, 15 assists) making the third team and sophomore defender Abbey Kissel earning honorable mention. The Bulldogs did take a 10-5 loss to Rockford on April 20, with its other defeats to Division 2 finalists Detroit Country Day and Grand Rapids Catholic Central, East Grand Rapids and Illinois power Hinsdale Central.
ROCKFORD
Record/MPR: 13-7, No. 1
League finish: Second in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1
Coach: Mark Neumen, third season (40-19)
Championship history: Nine MHSAA titles (most recent 2021).
Best wins: 10-8 over No. 2 Hartland in Semifinal, 10-5 over No. 3 Brighton, 12-8 and 12-10 over Division 2 No. 7 East Grand Rapids, 16-6 over Division 2 No. 10 Grand Rapids Northview.
Players to watch: Naomi Green, jr. D; Aubree Frazier, sr. A (47 goals, 11 assists); Ella Larva, soph. M (40 goals, 6 assists); Madison Pyle, sr. A (47 goals, 16 assists).
Outlook: Rockford is returning to the Final for the first time since its most recent championship season, and actually started this spring 0-2 before winning 13 of its next 14 in-state games. (Four other defeats came to Illinois teams, including one as well to Hinsdale Central.) The Rams avenged their season-opening loss to Spring Lake in the regular-season finale, with the other two in-state defeats to Grand Rapids Catholic Central. Green, Larva and Frazier have been named to the all-state first team, with Pyle making the second team and senior attack Hope Deuel (27 goals, 28 assists) earning honorable mention. Sophomore midfielder Brooke Gordon (21 goals, 12 assists) also has topped 20 goals, and junior goalie Gracelyn Hosford gives up only 9.73 per game.
Division 2
DETROIT COUNTRY DAY
Record/MPR: 17-3-1, No. 2
League finish: Does not play in a league.
Coach: Liz Nussbaum, first season (17-3-1)
Championship history: Division 2 champion 2023, runner-up 2022 and 2005.
Best wins: 13-6 over No. 5 Farmington Hills Mercy in Semifinal, 21-9 and 22-4 (Regional Final) over No. 6 Bloomfield Hills Marian, 21-7 over No. 7 East Grand Rapids, 10-9 over Division 1 No. 2 Hartland, 19-13 over Division 1 No. 4 Northville, 20-13 over Division 1 No. 3 Brighton.
Players to watch: Olivia Winowich, jr. M (41 goals, 17 assists); Mary Pavlou, jr. A (66 goals, 11 assists); Emma Arico, sr. M (32 goals, 18 assists); Hadley Keating, sr. A (76 goals, 18 assists).
Outlook: Country Day has been nearly as unstoppable as last season, when it lost only once. This time the Yellowjackets suffered two losses to Grand Rapids Catholic Central, another to Indian Hill (Ohio) and tied EGR all during the first month before winning their last 13 matchups. Keating and Arico are repeat all-state first-team selections, and Keating will finish as one of the state’s all-time leading scorers. Junior defender Brooke Winowich, Olivia Winowich, Mary Pavlou and junior attack Georgia Pavlou (32 goals, 35 assists) all made the all-state second team, with senior defender Alessia Sessa selected to the third and senior midfielder Sadie Rifkin (36/6) earning an honorable mention.
GRAND RAPIDS CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/MPR: 22-0, No. 1
League finish: First in O-K Tier 1.
Coach: Joe Curcuru, first season (22-0)
Championship history: Division 2 champion 2011.
Best wins: 24-2 over No. 3 Haslett/Williamston in Semifinal, 14-10, 20-10 and 22-11 (Regional Quarterfinal) over No. 7 East Grand Rapids; 18-6 over No. 10 Grand Rapids Northview, 17-7 and 20-8 over No. 2 Detroit Country Day, 17-8 and 20-7 over Division 1 No. 1 Rockford, 14-13 over Division 1 No. 3 Brighton, 15-7 over Division 1 No. 9 Bloomfield Hills.
Players to watch: Cate Marshall, jr. M (66 goals, 37 assists); Brigid Byrne, sr. D; Sarah Rott, sr. A (68 goals, 40 assists); Claire Marosi, sr. M (152 goals, 32 assists).
Outlook: Curcuru came to Grand Rapids Catholic Central after three seasons and two straight Division 1 runner-up finishes with Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern. He’s elevated a Cougars varsity that finished just 7-9 a year ago but has beaten several of the contenders this spring in bringing a perfect record into this weekend. Marosi’s 152 goals are the third-most all-time for one season, and she, Byrne and Rott have made the all-state first team. Marshall and senior defender Emma Picarazzi have been selected to the second, with junior goalie Samaya Dean (6.76 GAA, 188 saves) making the third and sophomore midfielder Lily Engstrom (46 goals, 21 assists) and senior attack Payton Davis (15/32) earning honorable mentions. Junior attack Marin Ziegler (28/26) also adds scoring punch.
PHOTO Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Sarah Rott (11) and Cate Marshall (1) celebrate Marshall’s goal during the first quarter of Wednesday’s Semifinal against Haslett/Williamston. (Photo courtesy of the Lansing State Journal.)