Yesterday, the 56-athlete roster for the fourth season of Athletes Unlimited women’s lacrosse was released.
It’s a group which is heavy on experience, with two-time AU champion Taylor Moreno, two all-time leading goal scorers in Charlotte North and Izzy Scane, and standouts such as defender Kayla Wood, attackers Marie McCool and Ally Mastroianni, and midfielder Dempsey Arsenault. I also like the fact that Sammy Jo Tracy and Sam Apuzzo are playing this summer.
I think, however, the incoming class of first-year participants has a chance to be extremely exciting. Start with attackers Scane, Erin Coykendall, and Madison Ahearn, midfielders Cassidy Weeks, Ellie Masera and Kasey Choma, and defenders Sydney Scales, Meghan Ball and Trinity McPherson. That alone would be a formidable starting lineup in AU’s 10-v-10 format.
It is notable, however, that we aren’t going to see the likes of Jackie Wolak, Emma Tyrrell, and Belle Smith, all of whom were in the AU collegiate draft, but are not in the final pool of 56 players.
We also aren’t seeing a number of good senior players such as Caitlyn Wurzburger, Molly Laliberty, Jane Earley, and Hannah Leubecker, all of whom could have made a great impact this summer.
The first weekly draft is in four days; let’s see what teams form up as the teams will play 16 games to choose an AU champion.
