Athletes Unlimited Weekend Wraparound: Kayla Wood and Dempsey Arsenault Remain On Top

Week 2 of Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse was just as jammed pack as the first and somehow featured even more highlight reel plays. But before we dive into the gameplay, can we take a moment to appreciate the numerous partnerships that Athletes Unlimited has brought to women’s lacrosse. Non-endemic brands GEICO, Gatorade, Guaranteed Rate, Hyperice, Nike, Topps, and WEST + WILDER all extended their partnerships with the league, while Blue Sky CBD, Super Coffee, Lasso Gear and VKTRY signed new deals. The Topps partnership in particular got collectors talking as Topps released limited edition trading cards for all 56 athletes, the first of it’s kind for women’s pro lacrosse.

https://twitter.com/AUProSports/status/1417846926595268608

The league also announced a deal that would allow fans who attend games to collect an exclusive series of NFTs and catered to fans who can’t attend games by announcing additional broadcast deals that allow international viewers to tune into the action.

Finally, while the fantasy lacrosse-style points system may have taken some time to get used to, it has made for a really fun viewing experience for fans. The Athletes Unlimited app is already robust with unique fan-engaging features, so it’d be great to see them add another feature in the form of a fantasy lacrosse challenge that allows fans to compete against friends somewhere in the future. In the meantime, there’s plenty of excitement on the field to keep us occupied. Let’s dive into Week 2 in Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse.

Week 2

Kayla Wood (Gold), Kayla Treanor (Orange), Dempsey Arsenault (Blue) and Haley Warden (Purple) took the helm as captains for Week 2.

https://twitter.com/AUProSports/status/1419816107574239237

Week 2 got off to a hot start with Alex Aust getting the opening goal in her Athletes Unlimited debut. She would proceed to put up a record-setting five goals including the game-winning goal with 34 seconds remaining.

The second matchup didn’t disappoint either, as former Stony Brook All-American Kylie Ohlmiller tied Aust’s record with five goals of her own and added two helpers. Four of her goals came in the second half and helped erase Team Warden’s 5-2 lead. However, it would be team captain Dempsey Arsenault who would secure the victory for the Carolina blue, with a goal off an assist from Marie McCool

Arsenault wasn’t the only former Boston College Eagle who had a big weekend. Kenzie Kent had an 11-point weekend that included the game-winning goal in Team Wood’s overtime victory over Team Warden on Saturday. Another former BC player and current assistant Sam Apuzzo recorded her own 11-point weekend, including five goals in Team Warden’s loss to Team Wood.

Additionally, a couple of goalies came up big in Week 2 with Britt Read stopping 23 shots in three games for Team Treanor and earning a spot as a team captain for Week 3 and Caylee Waters recording 17 saves for Team Arsenault.

The final game of the weekend was delayed due to the swampy field conditions and had to be moved to another field. This prevented the game from being broadcast, which was a real bummer for lacrosse fans. Fortunately, the AU social team did a solid job of tweeting out live updates and top-notch highlight videos, salvaging what was a loss from a broadcast standpoint.

No team won by more than four goals during any of the weekend’s six games. Every game was tightly contested and three games were determined by just one goal (and unfortunately Team Warden was on the losing end of all three). As mentioned earlier, we even saw our first game go to overtime, though we’ll have to wait a little longer for our first overtime shootout (another unique aspect to this iteration of women’s lacrosse).

Interestingly enough, Team Gold has yet to lose a game and one of the constants on those teams has been rookie Kayla Wood, who will captain Team Gold once again in Week 3.

Epoch Moments of the Week

From five-goal performances to highlight-worthy BTBs, Week 2 in Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse had a little of everything. We’ll start with Alex Aust’s game-winning, record-setting goal against Team Treanor.

https://twitter.com/AUProSports/status/1421243860383109121?s=20

Yet, let’s not forget Kady Glynn’s clutch save at the end that sealed the victory for Team Wood.

Did we mention how much we missed seeing Marie McCool in Carolina blue.

Speaking of players back in Carolina blue, Caylee Waters was dominant all weekend and this was one of her 17 saves during the weekend.

Kylie GOALmiller was simply unstoppable this weekend. This won’t be her last appearance on this list.

Dempsey Arsenault put the team on her back, scoring this late goal to give her team the win.

Speaking of Boston College alumni, Sam Apuzzo’s five-goal day was capped on this transition goal.

However, it was her former BC teammate Kenzie Kent who would get the last laugh, scoring this game-winner in the first Athletes Unlimited overtime period.

Caroline Wakefield literally went through her defender on this coast-to-coast goal.

Kylie Ohlmiller’s BTB around the crease had a little bit of everything and was hands down the goal of the weekend.

Marcus Holman wasn’t the only one scoring gorgeous goals in the rain this weekend. His counterpart Alex Aust put home a quick stick beauty as the rain came down in Maryland.

https://twitter.com/LaxPlayground/status/1421858351688863744?s=20

Sammy Jo is always on the go and she demonstrated that with an around the world goal.

https://twitter.com/AUProSports/status/1421858027276210177?s=20

Finally, Kayla Treanor demonstrated her dominance on a basketball-esque pump fake and fadeway shot.

Week 3 Preview

Your Week 3 captains feature some familiar faces as Kayla Wood will once again command Team Gold and Dempsey Arsenault will lead Team Orange. Britt Read takes over as Team Blue Captain and Kylie Ohlmiller becomes a captain again, this time leading Team Purple.

https://twitter.com/AUProSports/status/1421981607762743296?s=20

You can watch the captain’s draft live Monday at 7:00 pm EST on Lacrosse Playground’s Facebook page.

Athletes Unlimited Leaderboard

RankAthletePositionTotal PointsGames Played
1Wood, KaylaDEF8126
2Arsenault, DempseyMIDF7536
3Read, BrittGOAL7336
4Ohlmiller, KylieATT7126
5Treanor, KaylaATT7016
6Glynn, KadyGOAL6946
7Waters, CayleeGOAL6616
8Cummings, TaylorMIDF6586
9Fortunato, CortneyMIDF6386
10Rudkin, KathyDEF6206
11VanThof, TarynMIDF6146
12Wakefield, CarolineDEF6116
13Parrella, AlyssaATT5986
14Simkins, EllaDEF5836
15McCool, MarieMIDF5816
16Pelton, KyraDEF5636
17Levy, NicoleATT5596
18Warden, HaleyMIDF5536
19Aust, AlexATT5373
20Kennedy, AllyMIDF5196
21Apuzzo, SamATT5126
22Kent, KenzieATT5026
23Hicklen, HaleyGOAL4936
24Majorana, HalleATT4916
25Hill, AmberGOAL4816
26Brown, SarahDEF4806
27Tracy, Sammy JoATT4566
28Douty, MegDEF4506
29McPartland, KellyMIDF4476
30Parros, EmilyMIDF4396
31Garrett, MollyMIDF4376
32Carr, KristenDEF4186
33Pirreca, ShaynaATT4086
34McKone, LindseyMIDF3996
35VanThof, TaylorMIDF3926
36Block, BeccaDEF3906
37McGarvie Reilly, HollyDEF3886
38McMahon, IzzyATT3866
39McKenzie, AmberDEF3826
40Hensh, TaylorATT3816
41Ronbeck, LindseyATT3796
42O’Donnell, KatieMIDF3766
43Wallpher, TiannaDEF3646
44Tumolo, MichelleATT3546
45Brown, BrittGOAL3206
46Dowd, KatrinaATT3176
47Benson, AngieGOAL2986
48Shane, MiraGOAL2906
49Stevens, MollieMIDF2886
50Geiger, KatrinaDEF2886
51Hertsch, KatieDEF2876
52Gabriel, GraceMIDF2796
53Little, MollyDEF2696
54Pirreca, SydneyMIDF2346
55Byrne, MCMIDF2343
56Bonanni, Mary KateDEF2216

Who do you think will be atop the Athletes Unlimited leaderboard after Week 3 action? Let us know in the comments or on social media.

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Hutton Jackson

Hutton Jackson is a professional video editor, co-founder/host of Pro Lacrosse Talk and editor-in-chief of Lacrosse Playground. He is also an Emmy-winning associate producer with two major sports networks and oversees Lacrosse Playground's video content as the head coordinating producer. Hutton played four years of college lacrosse at DeSales University where his highest lacrosse accolade was being named to Inside Lacrosse's 2014 All-Name Team with current pros Challen Rogers, Deemer Class and Larken Kemp, an honor that didn't require stepping on the field. When he's not writing on lacrosse, he can usually be found diving around the crease in your local men's league and ranting about Baltimore and D.C. professional sports.

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