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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Athletes Unlimited Leaderboard

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.