The South Lyon Unified girls lacrosse team designs neon shirts for players, coaches and fans to wear during every playoff run.
The only thing that changes each season is the saying on the back.
While wrapping up an undefeated 21-win season in 2025, which included a 6-3 win over Hartland in the Division 1 state championship, Unified’s shirts read, “ALL IN.”
This year? The slogan is “THRIVE,” a fitting word for what the team has done while defending its state title and keeping its unbeaten streak alive.
Bright “THRIVE” shirts peppered the away bleachers and sideline during a 21-6 win over host Northville in the regional semifinal on Wednesday, May 27, at Sports Den Field.
Reagan Shields, Shaelyn Perry, Alyssa Jakubiec and Cate Cumberland each scored three goals as No. 1 Unified (25-0) extended its winning streak to 46 games and advanced to the regional championship on May 30 to face third-ranked Brighton (17-3) in what should be a state championship-caliber matchup just three rounds into the playoffs.
“Thrive just means to get a little bit better each day,” said 10th-year coach Deanna Radcliffe, who earlier this month became the first coach to reach 300 career wins since the MHSAA started sponsoring the sport in 2005. “Yes, we’ve had success, but we can’t slow down. We’ve got to keep thriving, keep improving and keep getting better.”
Considering Unified has played in only one close game all spring, a 9-8 win over Brighton on April 27, the obvious question is: What does the best team in Michigan even need to improve?
For now, it’s handling the target on its back.
Every game is a Super Bowl for Unified’s opponents, with everyone wanting to take down the reigning champs. And sometimes that creeps into its players’ psyche.
Just like in its win over Lake Orion in the regular-season finale, Northville (11-8) didn’t back down from a fight, seemingly forgetting it had lost to Unified by 14 goals 26 days earlier.
After giving up three goals in the opening two minutes, the Mustangs battled back with two scores of their own and even cut it to a two-goal game after an Anabelle Bednarz goal midway through the first quarter.
“Today we were a little tense at first,” Radcliffe said. “I think we were trying not to lose instead of playing to win, and I think we worried about what everyone else has been talking about. We don’t focus on it, but everyone else focuses on us being undefeated and not wanting our losing streak to end, and I think that creates added pressure sometimes.”
Unified answered with goals from Gianna Lucchesi, Perry and Kaitlyn Therrian to close the quarter strong and then never looked back.
The team poured it on from there, even scoring in style at times. That included Cumberland tossing a no-look, behind-the-back pass to Madison Lukas for a goal that made it 14-4 with 5:29 left in the third quarter and triggered the running clock.
“Once we were able to relax, calm down and just play and have fun, things flowed a little bit better,” Radcliffe said.
Unified won’t have much time to settle in against Brighton. The Bulldogs should be ready from the opening draw, eager to finally knock off their biggest rival of the past two years.
Unified’s current winning streak includes three victories over Brighton: the one-goal thriller just over a month ago and two wins in 2025, including an 8-7 overtime victory in last year’s season opener and, coincidentally, a 12-9 win in the regional championship.
Unified is 3-0 in the series but has only outscored Brighton by five goals. Expect this edition of the regional final to be just as exciting as the last one.
“It’s usually a very intense game, and we’re just going to try to remain calm, play the best that we can and, hopefully, we’ll have a good outcome,” Radcliffe said. “It’s about remaining true to ourselves instead of getting sucked into our opponents’ game.”
Simply put, it’s about thriving, the reminder Unified wears on its back as it prepares for what will likely be its toughest game of the season, with a win putting its team two victories away from repeating as state champions.
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: While Brighton looms, South Lyon Unified girls lacrosse keeps thriving
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
