Recap: Rookies, and Tracy, Guide Team Read to 14-9 Victory Against Team McCool

Team Read ends the week with a 1-2 record, while Team McCool dropped to 0-3.

Rookie attacker Sydni Black led Team McCool with new career-high four goals with one assist to capture MVP 1 accolades and 119 leaderboard points despite the loss.

Defender Lizzie Colson netted MVP 2 laurels after grabbing eight draw controls with two caused turnovers and a ground ball for Team Read and collected 187 leaderboard points, while attacker Sammy Jo Tracy put forth a career-best six-point effort on three goals and three assists and a game-high 189 points towards the standings. Tracy also pitched in a pair of caused turnovers, a ground ball and a draw control for Team Read in victory.

Rookie attackers Erin Coykendall and Isabella Peterson each scored four goals with Coykendall also adding an assist to her scoreline to help lead Team Read to the decisive victory. Midfielder Ally Mastroianni scored two goals and picked up eight draw controls to help the winning effort. Rookie attacker Kasey Choma also scored a goal.

Nine of the 14 goals scored by Team Read were contributed by Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse newcomers.

Goalkeeper Britt Read tallied nine saves as she played all but one second in goal.

Five different players scored for Team McCool in the defeat, including Black. Defensively, rookie defender Meghan Ball led the game with three caused turnovers and scooped up three ground balls.

KEY MOMENT

Despite allowing the first goal of the contest, Team Read scored six consecutive goals through the final five minutes of the first quarter and into the beginning of the second period. Team McCool worked the lead down to a four-goal deficit after a goal from attacker Andie Aldave with 1:22 left in the first half, but Team Read netted three straight goals to start the second half to build its lead that it never lost.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

The top 14 spots on the leaderboard are held by players from the first game of the afternoon – Team Apuzzo and Team Moreno – with Read sitting at 15th with 619 points in the standings. Peterson moved up seven places from where she started Sunday afternoon and sits in 17th. The top four on the leaderboard are set for Week Three as attacker Sam Apuzzo paces the roster with 905 points, while goalkeeper Taylor Moreno is in second with 809 points. Midfielder Ally Kennedy remains in third with attacker Charlotte North occupying fourth place.

GAME NOTES

• Teams are now 4-for-11 in captain’s challenges in the 2024 season … Team Read initiated a captain’s challenge on a goal by Aldave at 1:22 in the second quarter for a possible dangerous shot … The call on the field was upheld and ruled not a dangerous attempt on goal.

• Goalkeeper Caylee Waters recorded the first assist of her four-year Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse career … She is the third goalkeeper on the current AU Pro Lacrosse roster to register an assist after Read had one helper on July 23, 2022 and July 23, 2023 and Taylor Moreno added an assist on August 8, 2022.

• Coykendall’s four goals sets a new AU Pro Lacrosse career high … She is the 23rd player in league history to score at least four goals in a game … Attacker Sam Geiersbach became the 22nd player to do so in the first game of the day’s doubleheader.

• Peterson’s first-half hat trick is her third three-goal performance in six AU Pro Lacrosse contests and is her first time recording four markers in a single game … She is the 24th player in league history to score four goals in a contest.

• Tracy’s goal output notched her fourth career hat trick in AU Pro Lacrosse … She finished with six points on three goals and three assists, which is a new personal high … She previously had never recorded five or more points in a single contest.

• Colson’s eight draw controls resets her career high in Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse … Her previous best was five draws, which she accomplished four times.

• Mastroianni also matched a career high in draw controls with eight … She previously set her new mark last week on July 18, 2024 against Team Apuzzo.

• The end of the contest also featured a draw set up with goalkeepers Read and Madison Doucette with 0.5 seconds left on the clock … Neither team gained control before the final whistle.

• The 19 draw controls by Team Read matches an AU Pro Lacrosse team high for a game that was set by Team Cummings in the league’s inaugural season in 2021.

GAME MVPS

• #1 – Sydni Black (Team McCool, +45)
• #2 – Lizzie Colson (Team Read, +30)
• #3 – Sammy Jo Tracy (Team Read, +15)