Highlight Reel: Girls Lacrosse Regionals
May 28, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
The Hartland and Lake Orion girls lacrosse teams advanced to Friday’s Division 1 Regional Final with victories Wednesday that were broadcast on MHSAA.tv.
A collection of highlights are linked below – click on the headings to see each.
Hartland 16, Midland 8
Early Lead For Hartland Amy Longe takes a pass from Danielle Porath and scores for Hartland early in the first half to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
Oliverio Scores On The Restart Hartland goes up 7-2 at the end of first half after Shelby Oliverio scores off a restart.
Carly Takes It Coast To Coast Midland cut the Hartland lead to 7-3 in the closing seconds of the first half when Carly Dalessandro takes it all the way down the field to score.
Milholland Gets Second Quick Goal Midland wasn’t done late in the first half, as Caroline Milholland muscles her way to the net for her team's second goal in 30 seconds.
Eagles Flying High Hartland puts the game out of reach early in the second half. Casandra Pankowski takes a pass in front and scores.
Midland Strikes Back Midland scores off the ensuing draw, with Caroline Milholland scoring again.
Longe Goes Low Amy Longe picks up a second half goal for Hartland on a low shot at close range.
Cavaliers Circle & Score Midland's Amy Sklenar circles the net for a second half goal against Hartland.
Pankowski Second Half Goal Casandra Pankowski takes a pass and scores for Hartland in the second half against Midland.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Lake Orion 13, Waterford United 9
Dragons Respond It only took a few seconds for Lake Orion to respond to the game's first goal by Waterford United. Off the draw, Darcy Muns takes the ball and races in for the score.
Rooney Counters For United Watch Faith Rooney circle around and score in the first half for Waterford United against Lake Orion.
Nice Move By Lazzara Watch this great spin move by Lake Orion's Alexandra Lazzara to score against Waterford United.
Mori Moves In To Score Emily Mori works hard to get one-on-one with the goalie and score for Waterford United in the first half against Lake Orion.
Muns Gets It Back Darcy Muns of Lake Orion takes a pass in the middle, spins and scores.
Muns Again Darcy Muns gave Lake Orion an 8-5 halftime lead with this goal in the closing minute.
Haley Makes United Pay Lake Orion's Haley Vanek intercepts a pass and scores quickly for the Dragons early in the second half.
Vanek On Another Pick Off It didn't take long for Haley Vanek to get another steal and turn it into a goal for Lake Orion early in the second half. This one turned out to be the game-winner.
Johnson Scores For United Waterford United got back within three when Payton Johnson took a pass and scored.
Klebba Puts It In Off a restart, Lake Orion's Rachel Klebba takes a pass and drives in for a goal.
Oliver Posts One For United Nice play here by Waterford United's Sydni Oliver to keep her team in the game against Lake Orion.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
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.