Michigan
No. 8 Johns Hopkins women’s lacrosse coughs up four-goal halftime lead in 13-9 loss to No. 6 Michigan
This one might sting for Johns Hopkins women’s lacrosse.
After sprinting to a four-goal advantage by halftime, the No. 8 Blue Jays scored just once in the second half and wilted in a 13-9 loss to No. 6 Michigan in a critical Big Ten tilt Sunday afternoon before an announced 400 at Homewood Field.
For the second straight game and the third time this spring, Johns Hopkins failed to turn a multiple-goal lead into victory. It led 8-6 in the second quarter against No. 7 Loyola Maryland before the Greyhounds rallied for a 17-14 win on Feb. 21.
The Blue Jays scored the first three goals against No. 4 Maryland, but the Terps roared back for a 13-8 triumph on Wednesday night. Coach Tim McCormack acknowledged the disappointment in watching the team let another game slip through its grasp.
“It’s frustrating to be on the sideline when that happens or whatever the case is,” he said. “We’ll just go back to the drawing board and continue to keep playing our game and keep it focused on us and just do what we do.”
Sunday’s loss might be even more exasperating considering how differently Johns Hopkins (10-5, 2-3 Big Ten) fared in the first and second halves. In the game’s opening 30 minutes, the Blue Jays outshot the Wolverines, 17-7, controlled nine of 13 draws, and earned a 10-6 advantage in ground balls en route to enjoying an 8-4 lead at halftime.
The second half was an exercise in how quickly things turned. Michigan scored all four goals of the third quarter and the first two of the fourth for a 6-0 run in a 16:38 stretch. The burst was fueled by back-to-back goals from senior midfielder Ava Class in a 1:40 span and capped by goals from junior attackers Jane Fetterolf and Kaylee Dyer 28 seconds apart.
Junior attacker Jill Smith paced the Wolverines (14-1, 4-1) with game highs in both goals (five) and points (six). She said she and her teammates needed time to adjust to how aggressive the Blue Jays defense played.
“They were pressuring us a little bit more than we thought they would,” said Smith, who raised her career goal total to 125 and eclipsed Kim Coughlan’s school record of 124 goals from 2014 to 2017. “In the first half, that shocked us a little bit, and we were a little passive with that. But in the second half, we knew that we could beat the first one, draw a slide, pass it on, and I think that momentum helped us the whole half, and obviously, it showed in the score. We weren’t looking for the first shot, which really helped us get to those second layers.”
By the time graduate student midfielder Bailey Cheetham converted a free-position opportunity from the left side of the arc early in the fourth quarter, Johns Hopkins had gone 23:26 without finding the net. And even after drawing within 10-9 at that point, Michigan scored three unanswered goals to cement the victory.
Wolverines coach Hannah Nielsen said she thought the defense didn’t make too many changes between the two halves.
“I thought the defense was playing well in the first half, but they had to play too much defense,” she said. “We weren’t winning draws, and I think they scored three man-up goals. So I thought we were playing OK defensively. They just got the ball on the ground a little bit more. Hopkins is insanely good with the ball movement and their stick skills. We just put the ball on the ground a little bit more, and our goalie made some great saves.”
That goalie, junior Erin O’Grady, finished with eight saves, including two as the Blue Jays tried to mount a comeback in the final frame. She stoned junior attacker Ashley Mackin on a point-blank attempt and then made a stick save against graduate student attacker Maeve Barker on a free-position chance from the right side of the arc.
“The kid made a couple of good saves, and sometimes that can get you thinking a little bit about your next shot,” McCormack said. “It wasn’t a tremendous change or anything like that, but it just gets you and there might be a little bit of a snowball effect. But that can’t change. We’ve got to continue to do what we do, focus on that, and play for 60.”
Cheetham and senior midfielder Abbey Hurlbrink, a Towson resident and Bryn Mawr graduate, each had two goals and two assists for Johns Hopkins, and graduate student midfielder Jennifer Barry controlled a game-high eight draws. But the Blue Jays now find themselves in a tense situation.
Johns Hopkins must travel and defeat No. 24 Penn State (8-6, 3-2) on Thursday night to earn the No. 4 seed and earn the right to host a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal against the Nittany Lions again. A loss would send the Blue Jays on the road against either Maryland (11-4, 4-2), Michigan or Penn State in a quarterfinal.
As intriguing as those scenarios might be, McCormack said the team can’t harp on the what-ifs.
“We just take what’s right in front of us,” he said. “We’re going to focus on getting ourselves prepared each and every day. We’re going to focus on getting back to playing Blue Jay lacrosse and focus on trying to prevent runs and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.”
No. 8 Johns Hopkins at No. 24 Penn State
Thursday, 5:30 p.m.
A decade of Celebrate Michigan: See the images that won from 2015 to 2025
The Detroit News’ Celebrate Michigan photo contest is 20 years old. We’ve assembled the best of the best: Winners and runners up from 2015 to 2025.
The Detroit News
Gotion Inc. has asked a federal judge to order the Michigan township where it was supposed to call home to repay the roughly $23.7 million it owes the state in taxpayer-funded incentives.
Green Township’s actions opposing Gotion’s planned battery parts plant made it all but impossible to move forward, the company argued, leaving Gotion in default under its agreement with the state and on the hook for the $23.7 million in taxpayer-funded incentives it received for land purchases and improvements.
“Now that it is clear the project cannot move forward in the face of this continued opposition and the state of Michigan’s withdrawal of support, Gotion seeks to add these constitutional claims and request damages as a result of the township’s breach of the development agreement and violation of Gotion’s constitutional rights,” a May 29 court filing in the case said.
Last week’s filing seeks to amend an earlier lawsuit Gotion filed against Green Township over zoning changes that made its development all but impossible to proceed.
In February, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked Gotion’s lawsuit, arguing that it was moot because the state had already found the project in default and had demanded back roughly $23.7 million that had been given to the subsidiary of a Chinese company to purchase and prepare land in Green Township. In light of that ruling, Gotion is seeking to amend its lawsuit to seek additional damages.
“…the Sixth Circuit implied that given the facts of the dispute at this point, the correct form of damages for Gotion’s breach of contract claim against the township is likely monetary damages and no longer injunctive relief,” Gotion said in the May 29 filing.
The amended filing includes demands for damages arising from the “millions” Gotion paid or spent in reliance on the project moving forward, lost profits the company would have made if the manufacturing facility were built, attorney fees and an amount “not less than $23,670,873.56 for funds advanced towards land and development costs related to the project that the state of Michigan is now claiming should be repaid.”
Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office, which is seeking to recoup the $23.7 million on behalf of the Michigan Strategic Fund, said it was aware of Gotion’s May 29 filing against Green Township and is “monitoring the situation.” The office declined further comment, citing attorney-client privilege.
Gotion first sued Green Township in March 2024 after the board — all of whom had been replaced in November 2023 with members concerned about the Gotion project — rescinded two resolutions needed for the project to move forward. Gotion sued in federal court for breach of contract, and a U.S. district court judge issued a preliminary ruling in Gotion’s favor.
But the Sixth Circuit later blocked the case after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration, last fall, found Gotion to be in default of its grant agreement.
The state’s finding of default was in part due to the Green Township lawsuit. The company’s agreement with the state prohibits involvement in a suit that “would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the project or the grantee’s performance of its obligations under this agreement.”
The state also maintained Gotion’s “cessation of eligible activities” for a period of 120 days constituted an “abandonment” in violation of the grant agreement.
The Michigan Strategic Fund said it would seek to recoup the $23.7 million used to purchase and prepare land for Gotion in Green Township.
The Gotion project in Green Township was fraught with controversy shortly after its announcement. The company had planned to locate a battery parts plant in the Big Rapids area, creating up to 2,350 jobs and receiving about $175 million in taxpayer-funded incentives for the project.
Local opponents pushed back on the project because of the secretive nature with which it was negotiated, the unknown environmental effects of the project and Gotion’s parent company in China. Those concerns were amplified by Republican candidates in 2024, including both Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump.
The legal maneuverings with Gotion have already come at a cost to the township.
For the past three years, the state Treasury Department has flagged Green Township in Mecosta County because its expenditures have exceeded the amount of money authorized in its annual budget. In a corrective action plan submitted to Treasury last month, the township said its deficits were “primarily due to the legal fees.”
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
A group of residents on Holland Road in Taylor, Michigan, say they are now doing everything they can to keep their neighborhood the way it is after some of them received a letter saying the city is considering rezoning their neighborhood.
“People across the street from me could have warehouse front property instead of woods and nice residential homes,” said Matthew Streicher.
Streicher, whose family has owned property on Holland Road for more than 100 years, says that has been his concern after he received a letter from the city about a proposed rezoning from residential to light industrial directly behind his home near Wick and Holland roads.
“So that’s when I also decided to start knocking on doors around here and saying this is what is going on, we need to speak out and have a voice as to what happens in our backyards, literally,” said Streicher.
Streicher told CBS News Detroit that three of his neighbors received that letter, informing residents that there’s a possibility of a new cold storage warehouse development if this land is rezoned.
“Nothing that belongs in a neighborhood,” said Tim Adkins.
“Heartbreaking, heartbreaking, you know,” said Denise Haggadone.
Many who live on Holland Road say this possibility is even more disturbing because of how long everyone has lived on this quaint road. And these same homeowners say that an industrial facility would only bring in more traffic and take away natural green space, most likely hurting their property value as well.
“It’s nice to see the wildlife, you know, there’s so few places left,” said Adkins.
On Tuesday, CBS News Detroit spoke off-camera with City Council Chairman Charley Johnson, who also lives on Holland Road. Johnson says he understands all of his neighbors’ concerns and agrees with them.
He says the company proposing this rezoning has every right to do so, and that the planning commission will vote on it Wednesday evening.
“It’s sad, I raised my kid here, and he’s planning on having this home after I pass or retire or what have you,” Haggadone said,
The residents hope to see a big turnout at Wednesday’s planning commission meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3, at Taylor City Hall.
The Sterling Heights City Council is set to consider a resolution Tuesday evening opposing tax policy bills in Lansing that one councilmember contends put every municipality “at risk.”
The Michigan House voted in May to pass several bills that would slash property taxes across the state, but skipped a vote on a bill needed to replace some of the more than $5 billion in lost tax revenue.
At its Tuesday evening meeting, Sterling Heights City Council is slated to consider the adoption of a resolution opposing Michigan House Bills 5872 through 5879 due to “their potential negative impact on local government revenue, financial planning, and administrative operations,” a city document said. Sterling Heights City Manager Mark Vanderpool said the city would lose about $5 million in annual revenue from the bills. He said there’s no “guaranteed replacement” for the lost revenue, and the city would need to cut services, he said.
“So we’re deeply concerned about that,” he said.
The House’s sweeping tax cuts can’t be implemented without the passage of a separate bill levying a loosely defined 6% sales tax on services that has yet to be revealed. Republicans who control the House did not hold a vote on the sales tax hike bill, which remains in committee.
All combined, the four property tax cuts passed by the House are estimated to result in a tax revenue loss that could progress from $5.5 billion to $7.5 billion a year, according to a series of nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency analyses.
Vanderpool, the Sterling Heights city manager, said he wants the state Legislature to work “hand in hand” with cities, townships and villages to come up with a solution for “guaranteed revenue replacement.”
“We are more than willing ― I think our reputation precedes us ― to work with our state legislators hand in hand to come up with viable solutions that … may reform property taxes without harming communities across the state,” he said.
Sterling Heights Councilwoman Barbara Ziarko said the legislation reduces the city’s revenue without a guarantee of what it will be replaced with. She said that in the future, the legislation could prevent the city from maintaining positions that it has promised residents it would maintain, including public safety roles.
“When they put the burden on our local government, they’re actually putting it on the residents of whatever community it is,” she said.
State Rep. Steve Frisbie, a Calhoun County Republican, previously said that Michigan residents need to see tax relief immediately. He noted a ballot proposal collecting signatures last year would have eliminated all property taxes in the state. That citizens’ initiative, known as AxMiTax, fizzled out and won’t be on the ballot this fall.
“They realized that our property taxes are too high and they demand that we take action now,” Frisbie said.
More on the bills
The cuts passed by the House in May would eliminate the 6-mill State Education Tax and eliminate the 0.75% real estate transfer tax assessed on the sale price of real estate.
House Republicans also signed off on eliminating the personal property tax. That bill, largely intended to benefit utility companies, is tied to separate legislation that requires utilities such as Consumers Energy and DTE Energy to pass on personal property tax savings by cutting electric and gas rates for their residential customers. It also requires utilities to freeze rates for two years.
Jennifer Varney, Sterling Heights’ finance and budget director, said the elimination of the personal property tax would result in a $4.3 million annual revenue loss for the city. She said the personal property tax refers to the taxes that businesses pay on their assets, such as their machines and vehicles.
Another tax on the chopping block is the so-called “pop-up tax,” an increase in a property tax bill that occurs when a house transfers from one owner to the next in Michigan, uncapping a constitutional limit on the property tax increase on a home’s taxable value.
Under the state Constitution, a property’s taxable value cannot increase by more than the rate of inflation or 5% each year. But when a property is sold, that cap lifts and is reset at a new, often higher taxable value, resulting in a “pop-up” in property taxes.
Varney said the “pop-up” is the only way cities “recapture” the true value of a home. Michigan also has the Headlee Amendment, a state law that requires local governments to roll back millage rates if taxable property values rise faster than the rate of inflation.
“If you take away the pop-up … and you keep the rollback of the millage, you’re basically limiting any kind of growth in taxable base for municipalities,” she said.
Staff Writer Beth LeBlanc contributed.
asnabes@detroitnews.com
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