South Lyon United's Radcliffe Approaching Milestone Win, Another History-Making Moment
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 7, 2026
Originally, Deanna Radcliffe got into coaching lacrosse simply because it was a nice summer job.
From that simple beginning, Radcliffe is now on the verge of making high school sports history within the state of Michigan.
No girls or boys lacrosse coach has reached 300 career victories since the sport became MHSAA-sponsored in 2005. But Radcliffe is oh-so-close. Following a win over Haslett on Wednesday, Radcliffe has 299 career victories.
The milestone 300th win likely will come Saturday when South Lyon United plays in a tournament at Saline.
In order to get their names etched in the record book, any high school coach in Michigan has had to reach at least 300 wins since the MHSAA brought the sport into its championship lineup. So Radcliffe is literally about to become the first and only coach in the MHSAA coaching records for lacrosse.
Radcliffe is in her 10th season coaching for South Lyon Unified and also coached at Hartland from 2013 to 2022. This is actually her second stint at South Lyon, where she spent seven years as head coach before taking the Hartland job.
“It just means I’ve been doing this for a long time,” Radcliffe said. “What it really represents to me is all the players, coaches and families I’ve had the opportunity to coach. I’ve been fortunate to coach in an area that was willing to embrace the sport. I have been able to catch some really great teams and athletes across all levels from youth to high school and even collegiately. That’s the part that means the most, those relationships and experiences. The wins are just a byproduct of that.”
Radcliffe got her start in lacrosse very young, saying she picked up the game at 3-4 years old while growing up in Pennsylvania. She was introduced to the game by her aunt.
“It just became part of my life early on,” she said.
Radcliffe eventually became good enough as a player to earn a college opportunity, ultimately being named the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year in 2003 while playing for Temple.
Radcliffe eventually started a career as a special education teacher and was a high school coach in Pennsylvania before moving to Michigan in 2006, where she has coached club, high school and even college lacrosse as she spent time as an assistant at Cleary University.
“I just enjoyed being around the game and the competitive environment, so I kept doing it,” Radcliffe said of what has kept her coaching. “Over time, it stopped being something I was just doing in the summers and became something I really valued and stayed connected to. It’s grown naturally from there, and I’ve been fortunate to continue coaching while also working in education.”
The most noteworthy win of her career came last June, when South Lyon Unified earned a 6-3 Division 1-clinching victory over Hartland to give Radcliffe her first MHSAA Finals championship as head coach in a matchup between the two programs she built up.
South Lyon Unified is 18-0 this season and has won 39 straight games going back to last spring's opener.
“She has so much knowledge of the sport and really cares for each and every one of us,” said South Lyon United senior captain Teagan Wesner. “Deanna has been one of the best coaches I have ever had, and I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to play for her. I am very happy for Deanna, and I am excited to be a part of the team who helped her reach 300 wins.”
When Radcliffe first arrived in Michigan, lacrosse was in its first years as a sanctioned sport by the MHSAA. Now, she has seen it grow by leaps and bounds.
“One of the most rewarding parts has been seeing the long-term impact,” she said. “Many of the players I once coached are now youth, high school or college coaches themselves. Some are officials, and some I’m even coaching against or alongside now. That’s been incredibly meaningful and really speaks to the strength of the community the sport has built.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Deanna Radcliffe, here during the 2025 Division 1 Final, has reached 299 career coaching wins. (Middle) Radcliffe raises the championship trophy after last season’s clincher.
Rockford Adds 6th to Title Streak
June 9, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND LEDGE – As the rain lifted Saturday afternoon, a third consecutive group of Rockford seniors capped their high school girls lacrosse careers with a fourth straight Division 1 championship.
And then some.
These Rams, led by seniors Brooklyn Neumen and Mekenzie Vander Molen, made their last game perhaps a bit more memorable, setting the MHSAA Finals record for goals in a 25-5 win over Brighton at Grand Ledge High School.
Sophomore Sydney Zimmerman netted her team’s 21st goal with 16:47 to play, that score breaking the record of 20 goals by Okemos in its 2010 Division 2 championship win.
And it was just another accomplishment for a Rockford program that has won six straight Division 1 titles and hasn’t lost to a Michigan opponent since 2016.
“I played with all these girls all though middle school and elementary school; it’s like family, and that’s why I think it’s extra special,” Neumen said. “Everyone on this team, there’s not one person I would say that I wouldn’t love and that I would forget, and I’d love to play with them again if I could. I think it’s kinda sad now that it’s over, but it was a good time.”
The Rams finished 20-2, their only losses to Loyola Academy and New Trier, both of Illinois. Rockford closed with 18 straight victories.
Vander Molen had seven goals and two assists and Neumen scored six and set up two Saturday to both make the list for most goals scored by one player in a Final – Vander Molen’s goals tied for second most. Zimmerman and junior Karrington Vander Molen both added four goals.
Almost more impressive was the defense. Senior Bella VanBuren’s goal 3:45 into the game kept the Bulldogs down just 3-2 – but Rockford gave up only one more score during the first half, and at one point between the end of the first and beginning of the second held Brighton scoreless for more than 17 minutes.
The Rams extended the lead to 10 to start a running clock on a Neumen goal with 12:01 to play in the first half.
“I feel like everyone on our team has that mindset where we want to win, and we want to win by a lot,” Mekenzie Vander Molen said. “We don’t want to have a close game. We just want to go out there as fast as we can, just so we can get more people goals and just have a fun time.”
She and Neumen are two of nine seniors total who played their final high school game – Vander Molen will continue next season at Ohio State University, and Neumen will play next for North Carolina. Another senior, Maggie Hammer, has been among the team’s leading scorers the last two seasons and added two more goals in this finale.
“Some of these kids have been on four championship teams, some on three. Some it was their first, and each and every one of (our championship teams) is special in their own right,” said Rockford coach Mike Emery, whose record improved to 200-43-6 over 11 seasons with the win. “They all have their own culture and their own characteristics, and we start early trying to develop that, trying to get the best out of these kids.”
He pointed to sense of family as one of this team’s special characteristics, and also to its depth throughout the lineup. “We’re going to be back here next year; at least, that’s our plan,” he added. “We’re losing two All-Americans … (but) our plan is to be back here next year because we’ve got some great talent, and we’ll move them around and we’ll find a way.”
Brighton (14-8) intends to be the opponent waiting. The Bulldogs graduate 11 players, but also steered to this championship game despite finishing the regular-season on a 4-4 string and with a coaching change that saw assistant Ashton Peters promoted with three games to go before the playoffs. She led the team to a 6-2 record over the last month.
Peters was on the 2010 Brighton team that fell to Rockford in the Division 1 Final, and also on the 2011 team that won the Division 1 title with an overtime victory over Ann Arbor Pioneer.
“The girls rallied around this coaching staff and just were pumped. They knew we could get here, and that was in our gameplan the entire season,” Peters said. “They have become so disciplined and listen so well now, and so that’s what got us here today. There’s not doubt in my mind that my girls deserved to be here.
“Yes, it was a hard game. Rockford has an incredible program. … (But) what we did to get here paid off, because we got here. Once you get here once, you come back again because you have the drive to get here. And so we’re going to come back, and we’re going to win.”
Click for the full scoring summary.
VIDEO: Mekenzie Vander Molen scores her final high school goal.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rockford’s Brooklyn Neumen works to get past a Brighton defender during Saturday’s Division 1 Final. (Middle) Mekenzie Vander Molen controls the ball for the Rams.