By KYLE DUDA

Special to The Oakland Press

TROY -- Birmingham United has endured a somewhat tumultuous girls lacrosse season, according to head coach Jen Dunbar.

Although the two-time defending Division 1 state champions have faced some adversity during the season — inexperience being the primary factor — it appears to be gelling at the right time.

This was most evident during Wednesday’s Division 1 regional semifinal game, an 18-9 thrashing of a solid Grosse Pointe North squad.

“I think today was a building block of progress in winning the state championship,” Dunbar said.

Eighteen ticks of the clock.

That’s all it took for Birmingham to score its first goal of the game.

Following the opening faceoff, Birmingham midfielder Rachel Miller raced up the center of the field, eluding defenders — both were themes of the evening — and teammate Zoe Smith was there to finish things off by coming up with a goal in front of the net.

From that moment on, Birmingham (12-4-1) refused to look back and dictated the pace of the game.

With the win, Birmingham will play the winner between Bloomfield United and Grosse Pointe South — a team Birmingham defeated earlier this season.

Birmingham scored a majority of its goals by attacking through the middle of the field, a strategy the Norsemen could not counter.

To make things more difficult for North, seven different players scored goals for Birmingham.

Nancy Miner led the way with five goals, while Smith and Julia Carnovale contributed three goals. Carly Signorello, Brooke Macgregor and Kate Murray all had two goals, while Miller scored one goal.

Dunbar was especially pleased with her “strong and speedy attackers,” who continually killed any momentum garnered by the Norsemen.

Birmingham’s man-to-man defense also held its own.

“Our team defense has really come a long way,” Dunbar said. “Our communication has improved, and we’re fouling less.”

Susie Plaggemars, whom Dunbar described as the team’s chief communicator, and Sarah Norris were the defensive catalysts Wednesday. Both individuals played an instrumental role in prevented the Norsemen from getting clean looks at the net.

Despite Birmingham’s staunch defense, North’s Alexa Quinlan and Molly Youngblood still found ways to utilize their skills. Quinlan and Youngblood continually found ways to break free of Birmingham’s defensive pressure.

North’s dynamic duo accounted for all eight of the team’s goals — Quinlan scored five goals, while Youngblood scored the other four.

“We would have loved to stop (Youngblood and Quinlan), but they’re great players,” Dunbar said.

The Norseman, who trailed 8-6 at halftime, remained within two goals, 10-8, following Quinlan’s goal with 17:25 remaining in the game.

Birmingham, however, answered with eight straight goals to emphatically put the game away.

Calla Glavin, Birmingham’s freshman goalkeeper, played like a veteran. She stopped several shots at point-blank range, and didn’t appear rattled in her first meaningful high school game.