It’s hard enough to have an undefeated season.
But it’s even harder to do it again when every opponent treats you like it’s their Super Bowl.
That’s what the No. 1-ranked South Lyon United girls lacrosse team has learned this spring.
On the heels of last year’s undefeated 21-win season, which included a 6-3 win over Hartland in the Division 1 state championship, United has gotten everybody’s best shot in 2026. That’s forced the squad to take absolutely no nights off while defending its title.
“It’s definitely not easy,” coach Deanna Radcliffe said following United’s regular-season finale May 13 at Lake Orion. “The girls try not to think about (going undefeated). But we obviously know it’s happening, and we don’t want to lose. But I kept telling them that if it does happen, if you do lose, you learn from it, and it doesn’t really matter in the regular season.”
Losing hasn’t been a problem. The team has won big in every game except its 9-8 victory over third-ranked Brighton on April 27. And, well, you could say its win at Lake Orion was no gimme, either.
United (23-0-0) won 17-10 to enter the playoffs undefeated again, extending its winning streak to 44 games. For a brief moment in the second half, the running-clock rule was active. But the Dragons (14-3-2) made a game of it.
United carried only a 3-2 lead into the second period before personal fouls allowed Lake Orion to trim the deficit in the fourth. The Dragons scored four straight goals to open the final period and make it 14-8 before United answered with three goals in a two-minute stretch from Madison Lukas, Emily Brennan and Shaelyn Perry.
“I tell them all the time that it’s OK to take some hits, take some shots,” Radcliffe said. “You’ve just got to stay composed, and we don’t usually get cards. The games we do get cards are when we are not as composed as we should be, and there’s been maybe two games where we’ve gotten cards this season, and those are the two most tested games we’ve had.”
Obviously, Brighton, which United battled twice during last year’s state title run, was the other game Radcliffe was referring to.
But as United has done against the Bulldogs three times during its current winning streak, it sorted itself out against the Dragons to prove it’s still the top team in Michigan.
Reagan Shields led with seven goals, including five in the first half. Perry added five goals while Lukas, Brennan, Gianna Lucchesi, Cate Cumberland and Lily Trzaskos scored one apiece.
“Yeah, we get everyone’s best effort,” Radcliffe added. “But like I told them from the beginning, especially this season after you win a state championship, that you’re going to get everybody’s best effort. No one is going to come in slacking on you. You have to always be on. There are going to be moments when you’re not going to be on because you’re human.”
Expect United to keep looking more superhuman than human going forward.
It entered the final week of the regular season with an average goal differential of 9.31, more than double every team in LaxNumbers.com’s Division 1 rankings except eighth-ranked Haslett.
United should have more big wins than close calls in the postseason, especially early on. It likely won’t face another major test until a likely regional championship rematch with Brighton on May 30.
How the team handles itself from that game through the state championship on June 5 should determine whether it hoists a second straight wooden mitten. For now, it’ll take the close call against Lake Orion as another chance to learn and improve.
“Our goal has always been to get a little bit better each day and learn from our mistakes and learn from the closer games and moments,” Radcliffe said. “Even during the interesting moments we had in this game, we just want to learn from it and be ready for the next challenge.”
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: Champion South Lyon United lacrosse ends regular season undefeated
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
