Week 3 of Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse continued to be one of firsts in the league's inaugural season. When the dust settled, no team came out of the weekend undefeated. This was the first time during the season where none of the four squads finished with a clean sheet. It was also the first time that Kayla Wood found herself on the losing end of a game.
There were a few league roster changes heading into the weekend as well. One's of the league's top performers, Kayla Treanor, was out due to a personal matter. The Syracuse Head Coach entered the season's midway point fifth on the AU Leaderboard with 701 points. Former WPLL All-Star, Amanda Johansen, made her AU debut during Week 3 and made an immediate impact for Team Ohlmiller on both ends of the field.
We are now past the midway point of the season and the AU Leaderboard has begun to take shape, with a number a familiar faces still at the front of the pack. As the leaderboard continues to materialize heading in the penultimate week of the season, it will be intriguing to see how the captains select their rosters in hopes to maintain their position. Will we see some gamesmanship during the draft? We will have to wait and see! In the meantime, let’s dive into Week 3 in Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse.
Week 3
Kayla Wood (Gold), Dempsey Arsenault (Orange), Britt Read (Blue) and Kylie Ohlmiller (Purple) took the helm as captains for Week 3.
The weekend kicked off with a back-and-forth battle between Team Wood (Gold) and Team Arsenault (Orange). Behind a four-goal and four-assist performance from Arsenault's former Boston College teammate, Kenzie Kent (813 points), the orange squad jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Kent's eight-point day broke the league record for points in a game. This was the first time during season that Team Wood entered the second quarter losing and, ultimately, resulted in the first loss of the season for the Golden Girls.
Team Wood's ability to keep games close during Week 3 action was thanks, in large part, to the play of Kady Glynn (1067 pts) between the pipes. The former Loyola Greyhound made 23 saves over three games, helping her jump into the leaderboard Top 4 when the weekend concluded.
Another player who's Week 3 performance vaulted them into a captain role was Taylor Cummings (1083 pts.). The three-time Tewaaraton recipient was a force on both ends of the field, recording eight points (5 G, 3 A) on offense and causing six turnovers. Cummings has been a model of consistency all season and a reason why she has been a top pick in every draft up to this point. That streak will end as she will get the chance to build her own team this week.
Team Read finished the weekend 2-1 with a victory on Sunday in the final seconds of play against Team Wood. With just under seven seconds left in play, Emily Garrity Parros (633 points) ripped a free position goal to seal the victory. Much of Team Read's offensive success during Week 3 came off the stick of Marie McCool (774 points). The UNC alum tallied six goals and two assists, good for the #19 position on the leaderboard heading into Week 4.
The aforementioned Johansen could not have had a better opening AU campaign for Team Ohlmiller. The USC alum found the back of the net three times over the weekend, in addition to nine ground balls and five caused turnovers.
Epoch Moments of the Week
It only took seven seconds to get the goals flowing during Week 3. Alex Aust picked up right where she left off after her dominant debut the prior week. We've seen a ton of games start with a goal off of the initial draw. The start of Week 3 was no different.
The season of #Goalmiller continued in Week 3 with another stellar pearl from the purple captain. This goal differed a bit from the normal menu offering of Kylie's physical dodges to cage. Her performance around cage continues to impress.
Amanda Johnansen burst onto the scene in season debut during Week 3 for Team Ohlmiller after returning from injury. This should come to no surprise to pro lacrosse fans though. The former WPLL All-Star notched an impressive 555 points (3 G, 2 A, 5 CT) in only three games.
It was not the flashiest play of the weekend but, as a goalie, this save by Angie Benson had to make the cut. Benson made this save look much easier than it was with her fundamentally strong step to the ball. The goalie play this season has been really strong. Marshawn Lynch said "take care of ya'lls mentals." I'm going to pretend for this play's sake he was talking about Angie's fundamentals between the pipes.
This no-hesi, pull-up jimbo by Ally Kennedy was ridiculous. I'm sure Kyle Harrison was loving this one. She did this again later in the weekend as well. I've decided that this is her signature move and the action shot of this goal is logo-worthy.
We see McCool's ability to beat her defender that first step speed week in and week out. When #40 has the ball and some open space, I just assume goal at this point.
Was this the best goal in pro lacrosse this summer? If not, it's certainly on the 2021 Summer Mt. Rushmore. The defender was in great position and Cortney Fortunato said no problem. I've watched this at least 100 times. It even fooled the camera worker with the delayed pan to cage
I am constantly in awe of Taylor's ability to maintain possession in traffic and then get shots off at any and all angles. This twizzler is just another example of her offensive dominance.
It seems like Katrina Dowd has been wide open for so many of her goals this season. That's because she's one of the best off-ballers in the league. Look how she sneaks off that pick. Give her time and room and there's no Dowd in my mind that it's finding the back of the net.
It was a lot of fun to watch this duo feed off of each other's play this past weekend. Apuzzo's vision and Ohlmiller's ability to catch anything in traffic make them lethal. Exhibit A below. The defense rests, or they need to anyway if they want a chance to defend these two.
Week 4 Preview
Your Week 4 captains feature some familiar faces as Dempsey Arsenault (Gold) and Kayla Wood (Orange) remain captains for yet another week. Arsenault leapfrogged Wood for the AU Leaderboard's top spot heading into Week 4.
After hovering near the top of the leaderboard for a few weeks, Taylor Cummings (Blue) finds herself as captain for the first time this season. Rounding out the captains is Kady Glynn (Purple). Glynn is the third goalie this season to be named captain.
Athletes Unlimited Leaderboard
Who do you think will be atop the Athletes Unlimited leaderboard after Week 4 action? Let us know in the comments or on social media.