Finals Preview: Cross-state Powers Collide
June 7, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
For the first time in the brief history of MHSAA girls lacrosse, a top team from the Grand Rapids area will face a top team from suburban Detroit in both Finals, scheduled for Saturday at Rockford High School.
And those Grand Rapids-area contenders also are the favorites, both ranked No. 1 in their respective divisions at the end of the regular season.
Defending Division 2 champion East Grand Rapids faces Livonia Ladywood in the day's first game at 2 p.m., followed by the host Rams taking on Bloomfield Hills United for the Division 1 title at 4:30. 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, and shown next week on Comcast.
Here's a brief look at the four teams vying for championships (player statistics do not include Semifinals):
Division 1
BLOOMFIELD HILLS UNITED
Record/rank: 19-5, No. 4 at end of regular season
League finish: First in Oakland Activities Association Red
Coach: Andy Reed, third season (40-23-1)
Championship history: Has not played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 12-11 and 11-10 (Regional Quarterfinal) over No. 9 Birmingham United, 16-6 over No. 10 Grosse Pointe South, 13-11 and 14-6 (Regional Final) over No. 7 Troy, 8-7 over No. 5 Birmingham Marian in Regional Semifinal, 10-9 over No. 3 Ann Arbor Pioneer in Semifinal.
Players to watch: Margaret Metzger, sr. M (81 goals, 32 assists); Maria D’Angelo, jr. A (61 goals, 21 assists); Emma Mucci, jr. M (28 goals, 24 assists); Christina Arens, jr. A (24 goals, 19 assists); Maddie Monahan, sr. M (29 goals, 14 assists).
Outlook: Bloomfield Hills has more than doubled its wins (nine) from Reed’s first season and won 14 straight this spring. The Blackhawks also have survived a run of four straight ranked opponents during the postseason, with three one-goal wins during the advance. Metzger added five more goals in the Semifinal win, and her 86 total puts her 12th in the MHSAA record book for one season.
ROCKFORD
Record/rank: 20-5, No. 1 at end of regular season
League finish: Second in O-K Conference Tier 1
Coach: Mike Emery, sixth season (102-28-5)
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2010.
Best wins: 12-6 over No. 3 Ann Arbor Pioneer, 7-4 over No. 5 Birmingham Marian, 9-5 and 15-9 (Semifinal) over No. 2 Hartland, 9-4 over No. 8 Brighton, 17-16 (OT) over Division 2 No. 2 Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
Players to watch: Meghan Datema, jr. M (44 goals 14 assists); Erika Neumen, sr. M (68 goals, 27 assists); Alex VanderMolen, fr. A/M (51 goals, seven assists).
Outlook: A win over Bloomfield Hills United would give the Rams victories over all four of the other top-five teams in Division 1 at the end of the regular season. Rockford also beat some of the best in Division 2, splitting with second-ranked Grand Rapids Catholic Central, sweeping two games against No. 3 Caledonia and taking a win from No. 4 Okemos (however, two losses came against Division 2 No. 1 East Grand Rapids). Three more players in addition to those listed above have scored at least 27 goals so far this season.
Division 2
EAST GRAND RAPIDS
Record/rank: 21-2, No. 1 at end of regular season
League finish: First in O-K Conference Tier 1
Coach: Rich Axtell, fourth season (77-14)
Championship history: Division 2 champion 2012.
Best wins: 6-2 and 13-5 (Semifinal) over No. 4 Okemos, 12-8, 17-8 and 14-13 (Regional Final) over No. 2 Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 10-5, 15-11 and 13-11 (Regional Semifinal) over No. 3 Caledonia, 14-9 and 13-5 over Division 1 No. 1 Rockford, 12-11 over Division 1 No. 2 Hartland.
Players to watch: Claire Ludlow, sr. A (56 goals, 16 assists); Liza Elder, soph. A (54 goals, 21 assists); Katherine Golladay, soph. M (40 goals, 26 assists).
Outlook: It’s tough to argue against East Grand Rapids as the state’s top team regardless of division given its first-place finish in the super-competitive O-K Tier 1 and a list of wins that also includes victories over Division 1 top-10 opponents Bloomfield Hills United, Brighton, Birmingham United and Ann Arbor Pioneer. Total, East Grand Rapids had seven players with at least 18 goals this season entering the Semifinal, making them an incredibly-tough defensive matchup.
LIVONIA LADYWOOD
Record/rank: 15-1, No. 8 at end of regular season
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic High School League Division II
Coach: Kris Sanders, fourth season (48-19-1)
Championship history: Has not played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 15-11 over No. 9 Flint Powers Catholic, 12-8 over No. 5 Farmington Hills Mercy in Regional Final, 11-10 over No. 10 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood in Semifinal.
Players to watch: Jaclyn Snyder, sr. AW (36 goals, five assists); Megan Leon, jr. A (40 goals, eight assists); Jessica Snyder, jr. A (49 goals, 20 assists).
Outlook: Ladywood made its way into the Division 2 computer rankings’ top 10 early this season and held strong, with its only loss to Division 1 No. 5 Birmingham Marian in the regular-season finale. Senior Christina Riga and junior Rachel Donabedian also have scored at least 30 goals apiece this season, and the team scored fewer than 11 only in that lone loss.
PHOTO: East Grand Rapids' Claire Ludlow looks for an opening in front of the net during her team's Division 2 championship victory last season.
Country Day Repeats as Cook Serves Up Another Title-Clinching Goal
By
Drew Ellis
Special for MHSAA.com
June 6, 2026
HOWELL – Charlotte Cook is building quite a reputation for herself at Detroit Country Day.
In 2025, as a freshman, Cook scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the Yellowjackets to the Division 2 championship over Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
On Friday night, in pouring rain, Cook found herself with the ball in the final minute of the 2026 D2 Final with East Grand Rapids, with the score tied 12-12.
Cook once again came through, putting the ball in the back of the net with 29 seconds to play for what would be the game-winning score in DCD’s 13-12 victory.
“Taking the ball at the end, I wanted to prove to everyone that as a sophomore, even when I was being face-guarded, I could get in there and I could make something happen,” Cook said of her game-winning goal. “I wasn’t just doing it to win, I wasn’t doing it for myself, I was doing it for my team around me because they wanted me to take that (shot) and I’m glad they could trust me.”
Cook tied the game with 2:52 to play as part of a six-goal effort to lead Country Day to its first repeat MHSAA girls lacrosse championship, and third Finals title overall.
“She’s someone that we can consistently depend on and rely on to be the one to set the tempo,” Detroit Country Day coach Liz Nussbaum said. “I think that takes so much character and so much preparation on her part. She puts in the work in advance so she’s ready for these big moments, and she carries the team on her back in that way.”
The win for Country Day (15-5) avenged a pair of losses during the season to the Pioneers (19-3). East Grand Rapids led for the majority of Friday’s game, including the 12-11 advantage in the closing minutes, but came up just shy of claiming its first championship since 2022.
“I think the reason they fought so hard is because of their love for each other and their love for the game,” EGR coach Kira Schoonveld said of her team’s effort. “It’s been a while since we’ve been back on this stage, so they were hungry for it.”
The Pioneers took control of the game in the second quarter with a four-goal surge that put them up 6-3. Senior Rylee Renker had two of the goals during the run to help EGR lead 6-4 at the break.
“I think the girls actually came out pretty settled. Of course, they have nerves, but I think they managed those pretty well,” Schoonveld said of her team’s first half.
Country Day came out in the second half and scored the first four goals. Two came from Cook and the other two came from senior Adri Zuk.
“That was absolutely huge,” Nussbaum said of the scoring surge. “We are very young, so a lot of this game is really mental for us. Having that kind of momentum shift was super important.”
East Grand Rapids answered the Country Day run with one of its own. The Pioneers scored the next three goals to regain the lead at 9-8.
The lead would change hands three more times over the remainder of the game, including with Cook’s game-winner.
The drama was heightened by the consistent rain, which never let up throughout the match.
“Rain is never fun and we’ve been fortunate that we’ve never had to play in the rain this season, so that of course poses more challenges,” Schoonveld said. “But, between every quarter and time out, our girls were still fired up and pumped and just ready to take on the challenge ahead of them. It’s just unfortunate that it didn’t go our way tonight.”
Jane Weaver finished with three goals and an assist to lead East Grand Rapids, while Nora Williams, Livia Burgess and Renker each had two goals and an assist. Avery Albers made 10 saves in net.
Cook finished with six goals to lead Country Day, while sophomore Bella Papsin had six assists.
“She’s always been a really good feeder, but she’s improved with her patience and waiting for more open opportunities,” Nussbaum said of Papsin. “She really found the open player today, and that was important because we knew that we weren’t going to be able to drive very well against this EGR defense.”
Junior Jackie Calso had four goals in the win, while Zuk tallied the other three.
After graduating a large senior class in 2025, Nussbaum wasn’t sure if her team would be able to get back to the Finals in 2026. Despite the rain pouring down, Nussbaum was all smiles after the match given her team’s difficult achievement of repeating as champion.
“We lost 11 seniors last year and had almost a completely new squad this season, but the consistency and dependability of the team, and the culture they have built, led them to this championship,” Nussbaum said. “It really is such a reward and a joy to be able to coach these girls and see all their work pay off.”
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Country Day’s Charlotte Cook makes a move while directing the offense during Friday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) The Yellowjackets’ Adriana Zuk (10) winds up to take a shot. (Below) DCD's Jackie Calso (8) and EGR's Ella Alguire (9) contend for the ball.