Boys and Girls lacrosse teams across the State of Michigan began their season on March 13 with one goal: winning a Wooden Mitten. Michigan’s High School State Championship trophies are shaped like a wooden mitten, just like the state. On Saturday, eight teams met on the west side of the state to capture their prize.
The Boy’s D1 and D2 State Championship games were held at East Grand Rapids High School. The Girl’s D1 and D2 games were held at Rockford High School. Two teams were able to repeat as champions. One earned its school first ever title. We at LPG want to congratulate the teams and provide an overview of the action.
Boys D1 Final
Birmingham Brother Rice and Detroit Catholic Central got the action started Saturday afternoon in the D1 State Championship game. The two teams both play in the Catholic League and play at least two or three times a year. They split their two previous matchups this season. Saturday marked the tenth time that the two teams played each other for the title, Brother Rice is 9-1 in those meetings.
The two teams knew each other well and it showed with it being a one-goal, back-and-forth contest throughout much of the game. The Warriors outscored the Shamrocks 3-1 over the final 4:47 of the game to go on to win their 16th MHSAA State Championship, 27th overall.
Brother Rice has made all of the 18 D1 finals hosted by the MHSAA, losing only to Detroit Catholic Central (2018) and last year to Hartland. Sam Klein and Hunter Polonkey each had three goals to lead Brother Rice. Jack Cyrek had four goals and four assists to lead the Shamrocks.
Boys D2 Final
Forest Hills Central and Detroit Country Day closed out the action in a rematch of the 2022 State Championship Game. These two teams also met earlier in the year with the Yellowjackets coming out on top 12-111. The Yellowjackets jumped out to an early 3-1 first-quarter lead, but it would be all Rangers after that.
The Rangers would outscore the Yellowjackets 10-3 over the final three quarters to win its second straight State Championship. Forest Hills Central has been one of the top teams in Michigan and in D2 since 2010, winning six state championships in nine appearances. Magnus Salmon, and Jonah McConnell each had four goals to lead the Rangers. Caden Daly led Detroit Country Day with two goals.
Girls D1 Final
Brighton earned its second straight State Championship with an 8-6 win over Forest Hills Northern/Eastern. This game was a rematch of the 2022 State Championship game that saw the Bulldogs outlast the BirdDogs 12-11 in overtime.
Brighton was able to rally back from a 5-4 halftime deficit to put the clamps on Northern/Eastern to come through with the win. Ella Toth, Georgia Gill, and Lauren Zaccagni each had two goals for Brighton in the win. Northern/Eastern had six different scorers. Brighton’s second straight championship comes after they finished as a Finalist in the previous three seasons (2018-2021).
Girls D2 Final
Detroit Country Day was the weekend’s only first-time champion of the four teams to hoist the trophy. Similar to three of the other four games, the D2 Girls Finals was a rematch of the 2022 game. Last year, East Grand Rapids won 12-11 in overtime over Detroit Country Day.
The Yellowjackets would not be denied in 2023 and this time outlasted the Pioneers with a 13-12 win on Saturday. Hadley Keating scored for the Yellowjackets with just four seconds left to lift her team to the school’s first state championship. Mary Pavlou had four goals to lead Detroit Country Day. MC Millman had four goals to lead East Grand Rapids.
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