Recap: Taylor Moreno notches 13 saves to lead team to 8-4 victory

The reigning Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse champion wasted no time in setting the pace after notching 13 saves to lead Team Moreno to an 8-4 victory over Team Read to close the season-opening doubleheader on Thursday night at USA Lacrosse Headquarters.

Moreno, who notched double-digit saves for the 11th time in her professional career, secured MVP 1 honors after adding three caused turnovers and two ground balls to her performance in the goal. The former North Carolina standout also eclipsed her own league single-game record with 257 leaderboard points.

Attacker Nicole Levy led a balanced attack for Team Moreno in the victory with two goals and an assist to collect MVP 2 notice while garnering 130 leaderboard points. Rookie midfielder Amy Moreau also notched a multi-goal performance after netting a pair of free position markers.

Attacker Izzy McMahon paced Team Read in the loss with three goals while goalkeeper Britt Read registered eight saves in the setback.

KEY MOMENT

Led by Levy’s two goals, Team Moreno sprinted to a 5-0 lead in the first half. Moreno, meanwhile, notched seven of her 13 saves in the opening 20 minutes.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

Moreno surged to the top of the leaderboard with her record-setting performance and owns a 95-point advantage over attacker Sam Apuzzo after the opening day of the season.

GAME NOTES

• Team Moreno and Team Read combined to register five assists in Thursday’s second game, upping the league’s season total to 11 assists through two games … Aspiration is committed to planting 10 trees for every assist during the season as part of its ‘Aspiration Assists’ initiative.

• Team Moreno became the first team in Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse history to hold an opponent scoreless in a single half after outscoring Team Read by a 5-0 count in the opening 20 minutes … Team Read did not score until the 6:24 mark of the third quarter on McMahon’s unassisted marker.

• Defender Kristen Carr scored the second goal of her Athletes Unlimited career with 3:08 left in the fourth quarter … It was her first goal since scoring against Team Benson on July 25, 2021, in the Week One finale.

• Team Read held a commanding 11-4 advantage in draw controls and outshot Team Moreno by a 31-18 count … In addition, the squad held Team Moreno to just one shot attempt in the fourth quarter.

GAME MVPS

• #1 – Taylor Moreno (Team Moreno, +45)
• #2 – Izzy McMahon (Team Read, +30)
• #3 – Nicole Levy (Team Moreno, +15)