SHE’S NO. 1: Salem’s Cotter named U.S.’s top prep LAX player

The youngest member of an ultra-athletic Canton family, Mileena Cotter was searching for her sports niche as a fifth-grader.

“Up to that point in elementary school I had tried just about every other sport — soccer, tennis, hockey, gymnastics — but nothing clicked,” reflected Cotter, a 2024 graduate of Salem High School.

One day, the Cotters’ nanny, Katie Kirchoff, who at the time was a Concordia University lacrosse player, brought a lacrosse stick to the Cotters’ home.

“Katie told me, ‘Once you finish your homework, we’ll go outside and I’ll teach you how to play’,” Cotter remembered.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Best in the U.S.

Earlier this month, Cotter was named the 2024 USA Today’s Girls High School Lacrosse Player of the Year — a remarkable feat considering the East Coast is the hotbed for elite high school lacrosse players.

Cotter, who will compete for NCAA lacrosse juggernaut Syracuse University beginning this fall, tallied a record-setting 472 goals for the Rocks in just 49 games (9.6 goals per game average).

After netting 18 of her team’s 19 goals in a 19-17 victory over Saline in April, Cotter holds five of the top six single-game scoring efforts.

A stellar student, Cotter was also named the 2024 Detroit High School Sports Awards Female Athlete of the Year earlier this summer.

(To check out video highlights from Mileena Cotter’s 16-goal effort against Northville in the Division 1 regional semifinals, click here.)

Efficient producer

To put Cotter’s immense MHSAA goal-scoring accomplishment into better focus, she set the record even though her freshman season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic — and it only took her 49 games compared to the 93 it took the previous record-holder Izzy Scane.

“Mileena has beaten teams all by herself,” Salem Lacrosse Coach Damien Butler said, when asked how the personable senior who wore No. 23 at Salem impacted the Rocks’ lacrosse program.

“Teams would stack players in front of the net, but Mileena would go through them like they were traffic cones.

“After her freshman season was canceled due to COVID in 2020, the MHSAA let us play one fall tournament. At the first practice, I watched her for 10 minutes and thought to myself, ‘This is crazy!’ She’s that good. I mean, her moves are so good, she makes goalies fall down.”

Blessed with humility to match her talent, Cotter praised her coaches and teammates when asked to describe her feelings regarding her history-making achievement.

‘Thankful’ beyond words

“I feel so lucky to have played for coaches who supported me and teammates who have always had my back,” said Cotter, as three gold helium-filled balloons — 4, 6 and 2 to represent the record-breaking goal total — fluttered in the breeze behind her.

“I am so thankful everyday to have been able to play in this amazing atmosphere where everybody respects everybody else. This record is for the team, not for me.”

Headed to Syracuse University later this summer to play lacrosse for one of the most heralded NCAA programs ever, Cotter heaped praise on her family — parents Paul and Lisa; and brothers Paul and Jack — for their unyielding support.

“My parents didn’t miss one of my high school games — and it won’t surprise me if they don’t miss a game at Syracuse, even though it’s a seven-and-a-half-hour drive,” she said.

Paul Cotter recently finished his second NHL season with the Vegas Golden Knights in May before being traded to the New Jersey Devils. Jack is an up-and-coming difference maker in junior hockey circles.

Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.