East Grand Rapids Begins New Reign
June 8, 2019
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
NOVI – Less than a minute into Saturday’s Division 2 Girls Lacrosse Final at Novi High School, East Grand Rapids began to assert its dominance against Bloomfield Hills Marian.
And playing a flawless, turnover-free first half, the Pioneers piled up 18 goals on the way to a resounding 22-7 victory to clinch their sixth championship in eight years.
The Pioneers (24-2) had won five straight titles before losing to Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in the 2017 championship game and not making the Finals last season.
EGR’s high-powered offense scored at least 20 goals in each of its six tournament games this spring.
“We had five really strong seniors, and we had five freshmen come in,’’ said coach Rich Axtell. “It’s a real mixture of age and youth. Last year, we had pretty much the same lineup, but some freshmen have come up and really made a difference.’’
Seniors Mary Schumar (six goals) and Audrey Whiteside (five) led the first-half onslaught as EGR built a 14-goal lead. Both finished with seven goals and were taken out of the game with more than five minutes to play.
“We wanted it so much this year for the seniors,’’ said Whiteside. “I was a freshman when we won it (2016). Mary and I have worked well together. They put me on attack so I could work with Mary so we could get more points. I love working with her. We work together on the draw, and it just came together so well this year.’’
Said Axtell: “Audrey and Mary are once-in-a-decade type of players. Between the two of them, they have 350 points this season. They had an amazing year.’’
The Pioneers wasted little time scoring, as Whiteside found the net the first time 50 seconds into the game for a 1-0 lead. Thirteen seconds later, Schumar scored to make it 2-0. Whiteside quickly scored her second goal and the Pioneers were rolling, up three goals with Marian failing to put together an offensive rush. Schumar followed suit, scoring 38 seconds later to put the Mustangs in a 4-0 hole.
Mia Hannawa finally got the Mustangs on the board with her first goal to trim the deficit to three. Maura Mustion scored for Marian (20-2) to stem the tide and get the Mustangs back into the game at 4-2.
EGR got a goal from Caroline Grin with 19:22 left in the first half to go ahead 5-2. Josie Mehney scored seconds later as the Pioneers extended their lead. Whiteside scored her third of the game to make it 7-2. Schumar scored her third on a penalty power-play shot to make it 8-2 while Marian was a player short.
Sophie Forstner made it 9-2 for the eventual winners with a power-play goal, and Marian coach Sherry Elliott was forced to call a timeout with her team reeling. Schumar scored her fourth, and the rout was on as the Pioneers surged ahead 10-2. Schumar’s fifth goal made it 11-2 with 15:04 still left in the first half.
Coco Chinonis finally ended the Pioneers’ scoring run with a goal to make it 11-3.
Anna Knuble, Whiteside and Lizzie Lundeen scored the next three goals for EGR as they took a 14-3 lead, and Whiteside tacked on her fifth as the Pioneers never let up in taking a 15-3 lead.
Schumar’s sixth increased it to 16-3 as the Mustangs had no answer for the East Grand Rapids fast-paced offense.
“We wanted it so much this year because we have five seniors,’’ said Schumar. “We needed this. In the first half I think our defense was unbeatable. We have one of the fastest defenders in Olivia Grogan. Anna Knuble is really good. She’s just a junior, and she’s going to have a big senior year.’’
Lundeen scored her second goal and Paige Leistra got on the board as the 18-3 lead produced a running clock.
Marian finally challenged EGR goalie Lily Kate Rogers, but the senior came up with three saves. Schumar tacked on her seventh goal to make it 21-5 as time and Marian’s hopes were running out.
“We lose five seniors, but we have lots of talent coming back,’’ said Marian coach Sherry Elliott. “I see big things for us, and I see some young ones coming up.’’
PHOTOS: (Top) East Grand Rapids' Audrey Whiteside (24) fires a shot at the Marian net Saturday. (Middle) Mary Schumar (12) and Marian's Coco Chinonis battle for position.
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.