Recap: Apuzzo Exacts Revenge in 13-12 OT Victory Over Team Kennedy

And after Team Kennedy closed Week Three with an overtime win on Monday, it was Team Apuzzo’s turn to have the thrill of victory in the extra period on Thursday night at USA Lacrosse Headquarters after attacker Sam Apuzzo’s strike with 2:03 remaining vaulted her team to a 13-12 triumph.

Apuzzo, who garnered Game MVP honors for a league-best sixth time this season, was voted as the MVP 1 recipient after matching her career high with five goals, including a two-pointer, en route to collecting 192 leaderboard points.

Midfielder Ally Mastroianni added MVP 2 accolades to her credit after chipping in a pair of goals with a game-high seven draw controls, giving the former North Carolina product 178 leaderboard points.

Rookie attacker Kasey Choma added two goals in the victory for Team Apuzzo, while goalkeeper Caylee Waters made 11 saves, including five in the fourth quarter.

Midfielder Ally Kennedy garnered MVP 3 laurels in the loss for Team Kennedy, scoring a goal with an assist en route to a team-high 102 leaderboard points. Rookie attacker Izzy Scane paced Team Kennedy offensively with four goals and two assists, while netminder Britt Read notched eight saves in a losing effort.

KEY MOMENT

Trailing by a 12-10 margin with 1:24 remaining in regulation, Team Apuzzo struck for two goals in the final 50 seconds to force the extra period before Apuzzo’s fifth goal of the evening ended the festivities and completed the comeback victory.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

The comeback victory allowed Apuzzo to reclaim the top spot on the leaderboard, but is ahead of attacker Charlotte North by just 38 points entering the penultimate day of the season on Saturday. Kennedy, however, holds third place in the league standings with 1,258 points.

GAME NOTES

• Team Apuzzo and Team Kennedy played in the eighth overtime game in Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse history, including the second contest this season … Apuzzo has played in four of the eight overtime affairs, authoring a 3-1 record in those tilts.

• Apuzzo also scored the game-deciding goal for the second time in her AU Pro Lacrosse career … She also notched the game-deciding marker in a shootout win over Team Bosco on August 5, 2023.

• Apuzzo received Game MVP plaudits for the 31st time in her 49-game Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse career, extending her own league standard … She also claimed MVP 1 distinction for the 18th time over four seasons, which is also a league record.

• Attacker Livy Rosenzweig established a new Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse single-season draw control record after collecting seven draws in Thursday’s game against Team Apuzzo, giving her 81 draw controls in just 10 games … The former Loyola Maryland star bested the previous mark of 79 draw controls by midfielder Taylor Cummings during the inaugural 2021 campaign.

• Rookie defender Trinity McPherson registered the first goal of her AU Pro Lacrosse career with an unassisted marker with four seconds remaining in the first quarter.

• Apuzzo ran her streak of consecutive games with a point to 49 games by scoring a goal with 1:03 left in the first quarter … She is the only player in AU Pro Lacrosse history to record a point in all 49 possible career contests, including at least one goal in 46-of-49 appearances.

• Apuzzo also posted the 10th two-point goal of her AU Pro Lacrosse career with the first quarter strike, becoming the fifth player in league history to accumulate 10 or more career two-pointers.

• With two goals in the first half, Apuzzo registered her 37th career multi-goal effort, extending her AU Pro Lacrosse record … She has fashioned multiple goals in 7-of-10 performances this summer.

• Apuzzo has accumulated 21 hat tricks in her Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse career, the second-highest mark in league history behind North (22) … She also ranks second in league history by posting four or more goals in a game seven times in her career.

• Apuzzo has a streak of eight straight games with 100 or more leaderboard points.

• Scane has registered a multi-goal performance in each of her last six outings after striking for a pair of tallies in the first half … She has also scored a goal in all eight efforts this season.

• Midfielder Ellie Masera recorded her third hat trick of the season following a three-goal performance in the loss on Thursday night.

• Kennedy has a goal in four straight games after finishing with a goal and an assist against Team Apuzzo on Thursday night … The former Stony Brook standout has scored seven goals during the four-game run and has a marker in 9-of-10 appearances this season.

• Rookie attacker Maggi Hall owns a six-game goal-scoring run after netting two goals against Team Apuzzo in Thursday night’s tilt … Hall has pocketed 13 goals during the last six games.

• Mastroianni upped her goal-scoring streak to five games after scoring twice on Thursday night for Team Apuzzo … She has also tallied 100 or more leaderboard points in five consecutive outings.

• Midfielder Dempsey Arsenault has scored a goal in seven consecutive efforts after opening the scoring just 59 seconds into the first quarter.

GAME MVPS

• #1 – Sam Apuzzo (Team Apuzzo, +45)
• #2 – Ally Mastroianni (Team Apuzzo, +30)
• #3 – Ally Kennedy (Team Kennedy, +15)