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.
Comeback Cranes Suddenly Claim 1st Title
June 10, 2017
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
BRIGHTON – For the third year in a row Saturday, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood stood in the way of East Grand Rapids winning a Division 2 lacrosse championship.
Winners of five straight titles heading into this championship game, the Pioneers had beaten Cranbrook 8-6 in April — so both sides knew what to expect of the rematch at Brighton High School.
Little did the Pioneers know that it wouldn’t go as smoothly as it appeared early in one of the most thrilling Finals in MHSAA lacrosse history.
It took sudden victory overtime but the Cranes, getting a goal by Angelina Wiater with 49.4 seconds left, unseated the champs 17-16 to win their first girls lacrosse title.
“It’s been hard; we had a good friend die this week and we pulled together and came through,’’ said Wiater. “Our goalie (Brigitte Ballard) came through. She was amazing.
“Our goalie threw it to me and coach (Greg Courter) said if you have the legs, go. I went, and I was thinking of passing it. I didn’t see anybody open, and I knew we needed to get one. I didn’t want to make a pass when I didn’t see anyone open. I wrapped around the back and I crease rolled and saw an opening, and I went for it.’’
Scoring early and often, the Pioneers had 11 goals in the first half, but found themselves up only one because of six straight goals by the Cranes midway through the game.
Down seven in the second half, the Cranes held EGR scoreless for 13 minutes and came all the way back, with Sophia Milia’s fifth goal of the game with 2:11 left in regulation tying the score 15-15 on the way overtime.
“Our coach had a deep talk with us at halftime,’’ said Wiater. “We didn’t play our game in the first half.’’
It was Courter’s last game as coach, and he had a heart-to-heart with his team at the break.
“I told my coaches after the halftime talk that we were going to get fired up or we’re going to go in the tank,’’ said Courter. “I was more emotional at halftime than I’ve ever been at any point. Part of me said I’m either going to scare them or (they’ll) respond. Fortunately, they responded.
“Our defense was great and obviously our goalie Brigitte Ballard was outstanding. We started winning draws and possessing the ball more. I knew once we got into a rhythm we could score some points. I’m just so happy for the kids. We needed to have a breakthrough game. East is a phenomenal program. They have a great feeder program and great coaches at any level. We had 17 girls. I didn’t have a full squad. I didn’t have a JV team. I only subbed once or twice the whole game, so our fitness paid off.
“I said if we got it to 13-9, we’d have a chance. I thought they got tight in the second half. Once we tied it, I knew we would win.’’
Milia’s sixth goal gave the Cranes their first lead since 1-0, as they went up 16-15 with 1:14 left in the first three-minute overtime period.
In the second three-minute OT, EGR’s Emily Roth scored her first goal with 1:32 left to tie the game, 16-16, and send it to a sudden victory period.
The season was far from a breeze for the Pioneers, who finished just third in their conference, the Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1, with four losses.
“These two teams are excellent,’’ said Pioneers coach Rich Axtell. “We won the first half, and they won the second half. They could have rolled over, but they kept chipping away. We didn’t have an answer for No. 27 (Isabelle Scane). Most teams don’t. They just played better than us. Both goalies stepped up huge.’’
Cranbrook scored first on a goal by Scane with an assist from Milia. East Grand Rapids responded with a goal by Mary Schumar to tie the score.
Jessica Geiger untied the affair at the 16:50 mark to give the Cranes a 2-1 lead before Grace Ruppert tied it again seconds later.
EGR took its first lead, 3-2, on a goal by Kate O’Connell at the 15:11 mark. Rebecca Scobell extended the Pioneers’ lead to 4-2 with a goal at the 13:37 mark. Scane scored her second goal to trim the Pioneers lead to 4-3.
O’Connell’s second goal with an assist from Olivia Brown gave the defending champs a 5-3 lead.
Seconds later Lindsay Duca got her first goal, and the Pioneers were up 6-3 with 8:18 left in the first half.
The Pioneers kept rolling as Schumar got her second goal for a 7-3 lead at the 7:04 mark.
Delaney Langdon ended the Pioneers’ run with a goal for the Cranes to trim the deficit to 7-4.
O’Connell’s third goal of the first half at the 3:33 mark gave the Pioneers a four-goal lead. Schumar’s third goal gave EGR a 9-4 lead as a sixth straight title looked promising. O’Connell’s fourth goal of the half had the Pioneers comfortably ahead, 10-4.
Milia ended the drought for the Cranes as her goal made it 10-5.
EGR ended the scoring in the first half with a half-second left on a goal by Audrey Whiteside to make it 11-5.
Schumar (fourth) and Scane (third) traded goals to start the second half to make it 12-6. Schumar’s fifth gave EGR a 13-6 lead as they started pulling away. But back-to-back goals by Milia for the Cranes reduced the deficit to 13-8.
Scane scored her fourth goal and Axtell had to call a timeout as the lead shrunk to 13-9. Courtney Paulus kept the momentum going, scoring to make it a 13-10 game and give the Pioneers some anxiety.
Scane made the play of the game when she stole a pass and streaked 65 yards for her fifth goal to make it 13-11 with the Cranes’ fifth straight score.
Milia scored her fourth goal with 9:23 left, and suddenly only a goal separated the two teams.
Whiteside finally ended the 13 minute drought for the Pioneers with a goal to make it 14-12.
Scane’s sixth kept the pressure on the defending champs, reducing the lead to 14-13.
Brown added a goal to her assists as EGR extended its lead to 15-13. But Georgia Hinnant responded for the Cranes to make it a one-goal game again and set up the run that sent the game to overtime.
Click for the full scoring summary.
PHOTOS: (Top) Cranbrook Kingswood’s Grace Coleman (12) works to get past East Grand Rapids’ Ella Gourley during Saturday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) The Pioneers’ Olivia Brown works for an opening against the Cranes.