Recap: Team Apuzzo closes week 3-0; Moreno sets single-game saves record

Taylor Moreno breaks single-game save record, stopping 17 shots

Eric Rhew

Jul 30, 2023

SPARKS, Md. — The weekly Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse matchup between Team Apuzzo and Team Moreno has become “Must See TV” and the Week Two affair at USA Lacrosse Headquarters certainly lived up to the hype.

It featured record-setting performances, a comeback bid and drama until the final horn. But, it was Team Apuzzo that ended the night in a starring role after picking up an 8-7 victory over Team Moreno to complete the second week of the season on Sunday night.

The win allowed Team Apuzzo to end the week with an unblemished 3-0 record, while Team Moreno finished the slate with a 2-1 mark.

Attacker Sam Apuzzo, the game’s MVP 1 selection, registered three goals with two assists to lead her squad to the victory. The former Boston College star also collected five draw controls with a ground ball and a caused turnover to finish with a game-high 204 leaderboard points.

While Apuzzo was directing her squad’s offense, goalkeeper Kady Glynn was piloting Team Apuzzo’s defensive efforts and secured MVP 2 honors after notching 12 saves, including seven in the second half. Glynn, who closed the week with 171 leaderboard points, made a key stop on a shot by midfielder Katie O’Donnell with 40 seconds remaining to preserve the one-point lead.

Defender Courtney Taylor completed the MVP trio for Team Apuzzo after posting two caused turnovers and authored 148 leaderboard points.

The result spoiled a historic effort by goalkeeper Taylor Moreno, who made an Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse single-game record 17 saves while adding four caused turnovers and two ground balls. Moreno, the reigning league champion, closed out the week with a 149-point effort.

Attackers Taylor VanThof and Kenzie Kent each scored two goals in the setback for Team Moreno.

KEY MOMENT

After Team Moreno battled back to even the score at 6-all with 1:33 left in the third quarter, Team Apuzzo responded with back-to-back tallies from attacker Sam Geiersbach and midfielder Grace Griffin to reclaim an 8-6 lead. Attacker Charlotte North trimmed the deficit to 8-7 with an unassisted marker with 4:39 remaining, but Team Moreno was unable to post the tying goal.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

The win allowed Glynn to move up four spots on the leaderboard and earn a spot as a captain for Week Three with 736 points. Moreno remains the leader with 1,047 points and has a 156-point advantage over Apuzzo, who will serve as a captain for the seventh consecutive week.

GAME NOTES

Team Apuzzo and Team Moreno combined to earn eight assists in Sunday’s Week Two finale, upping the league’s season total to 76 assists through 12 games … Aspiration is committed to planting 10 trees for every assist this season as part of its ‘Aspiration Assists’ initiative.
Team Apuzzo challenged a goal by North with 4:39 remaining in the fourth quarter, which was unsuccessful.
Team Apuzzo becomes the first team to secure a 3-0 weekly record this season … It is the eighth time in 11 all-time weeks a team has been unbeaten in its three competitions.
Team Apuzzo’s 38 shot attempts are the most in a single game in Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse history, surpassing the 37 shots taken by Team Colson against Team Moreno on August 6, 2022.
Apuzzo now owns a 4-1 all-time mark against Moreno when the duo squares off as captains … She also stands 15-3 overall as a captain, the best mark in Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse history.
Apuzzo recorded 200 or more leaderboard points for the fifth time in her Athletes Unlimited career, which ranks second in league history behind Moreno’s six 200-point outings.
Six of the first 12 games this season have been decided by a one-point margin.
Moreno’s 17 saves eclipsed the previous single-game standard of 16 saves made by Britt Read against Team Glynn on August 14, 2021 … It is the second time in league history that a goalkeeper has posted 15 or more saves in a single game.
Moreno became the first player in league history to reach 1,000 leaderboard points in the first two weeks of a season … She held the previous mark with 996 points during the first two weeks of the 2022 campaign.
In addition, Moreno also established a new league record for leaderboard points in a week, earning 605 points in Week Two … She surpasses her own previous mark of 581 points set during the opening week of the 2022 campaign.