Returners highlight the final 2023 Lacrosse roster

Savanna Collins

Jul 16, 2023

The signing of returners has completed the Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse Season 3 including a group of Tarheels, midfielders Haley Warden, Molly Garrett, and Katie O’Donnell, as well as defender Allison Palermo.

Warden finished fifth in the league with 27 draw controls in the 2022 season. She contributed four goals with two assists while starting all 12 games. Warden is third for most caused turnovers in a single season posting 20 in the 2021 season; she also served as a captain that year.

Warden is toughhh 😤#AULax | @haleywarden25 pic.twitter.com/t6xscEFkHy

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) February 8, 2023

Garrett competed in the inaugural season of AU Lacrosse after being selected in the College Draft. In her pro debut, she finished with 875 leaderboard points. She had three games with 100 or more points and scored eight goals with an assist in 15 games.

THE REACH BY GARRETT‼️ #BeUnlimited x @garrett_molly pic.twitter.com/jHUNNtpBdR

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 7, 2021

O’Donnell was a Top 20 finisher last season and started in all 12 games. She scored 14 goals with one assist and closed the season with a four-goal effort against Team Moreno. The third-year player also served as a captain in the inaugural season.

Katie O'Donnell with a HUGE goal for Team Apuzzo in the final minutes of Season 2 🤯💥#AULax | 📺: ESPNU pic.twitter.com/9UqprncxCu

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 14, 2022

Palermo is entering her second year with the league after making her professional debut in 2021. The defender was one of the 13 players selected in the College Draft. She finished the year hot, closing out with three consecutive 100-point performances. She tallied 17 ground balls with 12 caused turnovers on the season.

ALLY PALERMO GOES ALL THE WAY 🌊➡️🌊@apal219 cashes in on her first professional goal after going coast to coast💛#AULax | 📺 : ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/duwRy46yqw

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 12, 2022

Five more Tarheels on the roster

The University of North Carolina continues to produce more Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse players than any other program. Caylee Waters, Sammy Jo Tracy, Andie Aldave, Sam Geiersbach, and Scottie Rose Growney join the roster for the upcoming season in Sparks, Md.

Waters has finished in the top five on the leaderboard in both her seasons with the league, finishing second overall in 2021 and fifth in 2022. This past season she was second in the league in stat points and recorded 100 or more points in 6-of-12 games.

She is tied for second in Athletes Unlimited with 102 saves and also tied with two other athletes for single-season MVP honors (2021) with eight.

Made waves and saves in the cage all season long 🌊@seawaters7 is your runner-up in our our inaugural season! ✌️ #BeUnlimited pic.twitter.com/eOxdvcab5z

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 23, 2021

Tracy is another third-year performer returning in 2023. She logged 757 leaderboard points with a season-high 107 points in the Week Two finale. She is a member of Team Israel who competed at the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship.

.@SammJoT is sending goals AROUND THE WORLD!🌎#BeUnlimited // 📺: @FS1 pic.twitter.com/83r6dZ0q93

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 1, 2021

Aldave joined the AU roster as an injury replacement during Week Four of the 2022 season and worked her way into a starting spot in the three games of the final series. She scored her first professional goal against Team Johansen on Aug. 11. Aldave joined the Tar Heels as a graduate transfer from Notre Dame and was the fifth-leading scorer for the National Championship team.

Making movesss😍

Andie Aldave cashes in her FIRST goal in her FIRST professional game on her FIRST shot 🤑 @andiealdave #AULax | 📺 : ESPNU pic.twitter.com/6UMrvCjVqc

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 11, 2022

Geiersbach was also a 2022 rookie who appeared in all 12 games and recorded 992 leaderboard points. She opened the season with six straight games with 100 or more points. Geiersbach tied for seventh in the league with eight assists and also collected 15 goals. She transferred to UNC from Richmond and was honored as the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Championship after registering eight combined goals against Northwestern and Boston College.

Geiersbach is gettin’ hungry 🍽

This goal from Sam Geiersbach keeps Team Moreno in the lead 💛#AULax | 📺 : ESPNU pic.twitter.com/L3vM2SJylP

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 7, 2022

Growney was a five-year letter winner for the Tar Heels who helped lead the team to their title in 2022. She joined AU that year and accumulated 665 leaderboard points in her rookie campaign with a season-high 192 points in her final outing against Team Glynn. She was seventh in the league with 18 goals, registering three hat tricks and a single-game-best five goals in the final game of the season.

A DIVING TWIZZLER⁉️ @ScottieGrowney is blowing our minds today 🤯#AULax | 📺: ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/ZM8DmLBVQK

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 14, 2022

This group of signees completes the roster of athletes that will start competition on July 20 in Sparks, Md. at USA Lacrosse Headquarters.

Tickets are on sale now for the start of the season on July 20 at USA Lacrosse Headquarters in Sparks Glencoe, MD.

Savanna Collins is the Digital Media Reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Twitter @savannaecollins.