Michigan native Izzy Scane changing the game of women's lacrosse
(CBS DETROIT) - Clarkston native Izzy Scane is taking the sport of women's lacrosse to a new level.
The 2023 NCAA Tournament MVP, Scane led Northwestern to the 2023 NCAA Division I national championship.
"I'm very, very proud of being from where I'm from. I make sure it's very known any time anything happens," Scane said. "I want everyone to know that I'm not an East Coast girl. I grew up outside of Detroit, Michigan. And that's where I stayed. That's where I became the player and person that I am.
"I always wanted to be the one to bring back those national championships and kind of bring back that legacy, if possible. I'm very, very happy we can kind of bring it back to Evanston, and hopefully, we can keep that rolling."
Scane's journey started when she left the world of gymnastics to pick up her first stick and eventually led to her leading Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood to a pair of state championships and setting an MHSAA record for career points.
"The first time I picked up a stick, I knew it was something that I was going to enjoy," she said. "I think another part that I love was just running around part of lacrosse. Like gymnastics is very like structure, and you're doing very specific skills. And once I could kind of just get out on the field and run around, it was something I very much enjoyed, and I think I knew it was something that was going to continue throughout my life. It kind of clicked right away."
Scane says she couldn't do it alone, as her three brothers were there every step of the way.
"I'm very fortunate that I'm extremely close to my family, and my three brothers are like my best friends in the world," she said. "They were having a blast. I remember when one of the final goals I had in the game, I scored and I kind of slid on the ground and I stood up, and right there, my three brothers standing in the stands cheering for me. I think they always thought that I was destined to do stuff like that."
Scane's high school coach, Greg Courter, saw greatness in her from day one.
"She just brings a competitive intensity, a will-to-win effort and competitiveness that is just unparalleled," Courter said.
Courter was there when Scane won the national championship, and he says what he saw on the field was someone changing the game of women's lacrosse.
"I think she's changing the way the women's game is played," he said. "The turnover that led to her final goal, I haven't seen that in a women's game. I haven't seen an attack player play defense like she plays."
Scane's triumphs didn't come without obstacles. Before the 2022 season, Scane tore her ACL and meniscus, sidelining her for an entire season and starting her on a journey back that would eventually lead to her raising the national championship trophy.
"A lot of that was more mentally trolling than it was even physical," she said. "I think just having to be in that much pain, just to try and get back to doing the thing you love, it was definitely hard."
The NCAA national championship wasn't the only trophy hoisted in 2023, as she was awarded the Tewaaraton Award, given annually to the top collegiate lacrosse player in the country.
"To win something like that is just something I never even dreamed of," Scane said. "I dreamt of going to play college lacrosse and trying to win a national championship and all this stuff. But to be considered that highly in a field of girls that are just so phenomenal this year, there are so many good players. It's very it's an honor. It's very humbling, and it's been a crazy, cool experience."
While women's lacrosse might be small in Michigan, the sport is growing, and Scane, who wrapped up her graduate student season at Northwestern, is ready to be at the forefront of that change in her home state.
"It takes a little bit of extra effort to kind of get to that level because you're not surrounded by girls who have played since they were two years old, and all their parents went to Syracuse to play. And you don't really see as many kids coming out of Michigan or the Detroit area," she said. "It's getting bigger and bigger as we speak, which is phenomenal. And I'm so happy to be part of dragging girls with me. I'm very honored and excited about that opportunity because I'm very, very proud of where I'm from."