BIRMINGHAM >> Several odd-man advantages and some crisp spells of possession allowed South Lyon United to win 15-7 against Birmingham Unified Thursday night at Seaholm.

A majority of the scoring, particularly for the home side, was done in the first two quarters, though it took over four-and-a-half minutes for either team to get on the board.

When the action picked, it was South Lyon that established the early advantage on goals by sophomore Reagan Shields and junior Gianna Lucchesi. A response by senior Ella Koosis interrupted South Lyon’s early onslaught, which resumed with junior Shaelyn Perry’s first pair of goals of the evening that made it 4-1 roughly nine minutes in.

“At the beginning, we were playing to their pace and not to ours,” South Lyon United head coach Deanna Radcliffe said. “I feel like we didn’t really take control of the game until the second half (when) they were able to relax and understand what they were coming at us with and how we could beat the slides.”

The hosts regrouped during several stoppages and figured it out for a time. Freshman Coco Jelenic scored with seven seconds left in the first quarter to make it 5-3, then senior Sophie Sullivan took advantage of a turnover and Koosis assisted sophomore Kasey Chinonis to tie it at 5-5 with 8:43 left in the half.

“I think in the second quarter we did a good job of playing our game again,” Birmingham Unified head coach Samantha Miceli said. “We kind of got taken out of it in the beginning, started reacting instead of dictating the game. I think in the second we just did a great job of playing the way we know how to play.”

Miceli didn’t define it as “a game-breaker,” but a pair of yellow cards committed by her team between when it was tied and intermission did no favors. Perry scored before Birmingham went down a player, then again just after, and Courtney Putnam found the back of the net as well to put South Lyon up by three before the game was back to even strength.

South Lyon only struck once when it had a man-up situation again several minutes later, but the situations combined allowed the visitors to carry a 9-6 lead into the break.

“We do practice a lot of situations for when we’re a man up, so I think they did well of executing to a point, but I think they also just did well with recognizing where the extra person was and finding them,” Radcliffe said.

Shields added her fourth and fifth goals of the evening in the opening 2:30 of the third quarter, then the scoring cooled for nine minutes until Cate Cumberland’s finish in the final thirty seconds of the quarter, putting South Lyon ahead by six.

Chinonis became the only Birmingham player to strike more than once with her goal 31 seconds into the fourth quarter, but South Lyon answered as Courtney Putnam found Cumberland wide-open directly in front of the net less than two minutes later, and two more goals in the final 2:30 sealed the deal.

The victory may have even more definitive if not for at least a few outstanding saves by Birmingham senior goalie Ava Borovich.

“Ava did a great job,” Miceli said. “She really stepped up, and as a second-year goaltender she does a great job at dictating the defense.”

Birmingham Unified is now 9-7 and has already exceeded its win total from last season by three.

Last season, South Lyon went 17-2, its postseason run ended with a loss to eventual Division 1 state champion Brighton. This spring’s run of 15 games unbeaten — South Lyon is the last team in D1 left without a loss — began with an 8-7 overtime victory against the defending champs.

“I think that was big,” Radcliffe said. “It was our very first game, so we know it wasn’t perfect, but even so, being able to come out on top against the team that ended our season last year, I think it gave them the confidence that they belonged to be one of the top teams in the state.”

South Lyon has the highest percentage in the Michigan Power Ratings of any D1 team in the state, and now holds wins over four (Birmingham, Lake Orion, Brighton, Holt) of the six teams just behind them.

Its future beyond this spring looks good, too. Putnam is one of just four seniors for South Lyon and the only one who scored or assisted on Thursday, meaning the window of success will remain all but shut regardless of what happens in this year’s regional, which could very well be setting up for a final between South Lyon and Brighton.

In regards to this year’s playoffs, though, South Lyon will be in good shape if it maintains its reputation of being difficult to score on after allowing just 17 goals in its last nine games before Thursday’s contest.

“I think a lot of it is that we end up getting more possession,” Radcliffe said. “We do a really good job on the draw controls in the circle, so our defense doesn’t have to spend a ton of energy all the time. When teams do have the ball down there, our defense has more energy. They work really well together, their lacrosse IQ is growing, they’re aggressive (but) know not to get a lot of cards; all that type of stuff.”

South Lyon closes the regular season with Saline. Birmingham also plays its final games before the postseason on the road, including a trip Monday to Grosse Pointe Woods to face University Liggett.