Brighton Lacrosse Back in State Finals

SOUTH LYON — It’s back to the state finals for the girls lacrosse team.

The Bulldogs defeated Bloomfield Hills Marian, 12-11, in a Division 1 semifinal at South Lyon High School Wednesday and are headed to the state finals for the second consecutive season.

“It’s awesome,” Brighton coach Mike Staruch said. “The girls worked so hard to get back to the state finals. This isn’t done in too many places or too many sports. This senior class is just amazing.”

In last year’s state title game, Brighton lost to Rockford, 19-11. 

It was close to being a rematch, but Ann Arbor Pioneer held on to beat Rockford, 15-14, in Wednesday’s other semifinal.

“This is the year,” said Brighton junior Jenessa Staruch, who scored the game-winning goal. “Pioneer is good, so we’re going to have to bring it.”

It was a back-and-forth battle with the Mustangs (16-9) on Wednesday. Brighton led by as many as two goals twice, while Marian never led by more than one.

“It’s hard to pull away from such a good team,” said Brighton senior Katelyn Scott, who led her team with five goals. “It was back and forth the whole way and luckily we came out on top.”

Scott tied the contest at 11-11 with a goal at 14:14 in the second half. Over the next few minutes, the Bulldogs kept the pressure up, but Marian goalie Kelsey Summers made some big saves to keep her team in the game.

Then, the tides changed and Marian went on the attack and Brighton sophomore goalie Lauren Cole was forced to make several key saves.

“I just kept thinking about the next save,” Cole said. “I wanted to be a wall. I wanted to make every save count and I did.”

Staruch found herself with a free shot on goal after a Marian penalty and made good on it with 8:23 left in the contest.

Brighton won the draw and the Bulldogs took more than six minutes off the clock by simply passing the ball around on offense and stalling the game.

Marian managed to get the ball back twice in the final two minutes, but Brighton senior Mackie Forgacs stole it back the first time and Scott stole it back the second time, with just 18 seconds remaining.

“I was relieved,” Cole said. “But I was ready every second to make that next save. ... I’m ecstatic. We’ve been working on this all year and I’m so proud of the team for making it back to states again.”

Scott was equally relieved.

“It felt great,” she said. “We had to get the ball back. It was a one-goal game and we didn’t want to go to overtime. ... We wanted it so badly and we brought it tonight.”

The Bulldogs (16-5-1) will meet Pioneer (18-3) at 4:30 p.m. at Troy Athens High School on Saturday.

“We’re going to have our work cut out for us,” Mike Staruch said.