Rockford Completes Drive for 5 Straight
June 10, 2017
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
BRIGHTON – Rockford girls lacrosse coach Mike Emery has built a dynasty in Division 1, and Saturday’s 17-7 championship victory at Brighton High School over Birmingham United made it five straight MHSAA titles for the program.
Get ready for more. The Rams (20-2) dressed just three seniors: Zina Emery, Sisely Vongphasouk, who scored a goal in the second half, and Samantha DeBoer – meaning they’ll be Ram tough again next season.
“All year long it has really been this way,’’ Emery said. “We lost a ton of kids last year and some kids that are making some great strides at local universities and in the Big Ten and other places. We loaded up, and we started eight freshmen and sophomores today. We’ve been dominant all season, and these kids are awesome.’’
Birmingham’s lone bright spots were junior Meryl Feys, who scored four goals, and Grace Murray who had two.
Rockford’s Brooklyn Neumen started the scoring with an unassisted goal at the 22:27 mark of the first half.
“We knew that it was going to be very hot, so we made sure that we stayed hydrated,’’ said Neumen. “We wanted to get ahead to start because we wanted to make sure the midfielders had a rest. We executed our gameplan, and I thought that was our best game of the season. We’re a lot younger than last year, but we have a lot of talent. The freshmen and sophomores that have come up play like veterans. It’s fun because we have played with them since elementary school.”
Seconds after Neumen’s goal, teammate Isabelle Holmes made it 2-0 with a blast from in front of the goal. Neumen scored her second goal at the 20:33 mark to make 3-0.
A minute later Karrington VanderMolen scored the Rams’ fourth goal as they began to pull away.
Murray finally found the net for Birmingham (13-10) to cut the lead to 4-1 at the 17:17 mark.
Rockford’s Margaret Hammer made it a four-goal deficit again with her first goal of the game.
“It was Hammer Time, and she came to play,’’ said Emery.
Said Hammer: “We work really hard together, and we support each other and never give up. We have each other’s back and we’re well-bonded. I feel like we’ll be strong next year too.’’
VanderMolen tacked on her second goal to increase the lead to 6-1. Neumen scored her third to make it 7-1, forcing Birmingham coach Jen Dunbar to call a timeout to regroup.
Sydney Zimmerman got in on the scoring to make it 8-1 for the powerful Rams. Feys finally ended the drought for Birmingham with 12:53 left in the half to make it 8-2, but Hammer nailed home her second goal to increase the lead to 9-2.
Hammer made it back-to-back goals to put the eventual winners ahead, 10-2, forcing another timeout by Dunbar.
Mekenzie VanderMolen made it 11-2 with a full 9:10 left in the first half. Hammer’s fourth goal made it 12-2 and started a running clock.
Karrington VanderMolen started the second half with her third goal to make it 13-2. Hammer contributed her fifth, and the rest of the game was just a formality with the running clock and a 12-goal lead.
For good measure, Neumen picked up her fourth goal to make it 15-2.
“I started to get this feeling early in the season when we played East Grand Rapids, and we had a running clock against them and then we played Forest Hills and we got a running clock on them,” she said. “I felt like we could make it to the state championship and win it.’’
Click for the full scoring summary.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rockford’s girls lacrosse team celebrates during its Division 1 championship victory Saturday. (Middle) The Rams’ Brooklyn Neumen works to create an opening in Birmingham’s defense.
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.