Boston College Dream Team Shows Out in Sunday's AU Action

SPARKS, Md. — When Sam Apuzzo deliberated her draft decisions for Athletes Unlimited’s opening three-game slate, she looked to build an offense that could score in bunches. As the rounds went by, the Boston College alumna assembled an attack filled to the brim with former superstar Eagles.

Soon, Team Apuzzo’s attacking core took shape, boasting the likes of Charlotte North, Kenzie Kent and Dempsey Arsenault.

“It was definitely done intentionally,” Apuzzo said of her drafting strategy. “I hadn’t gotten to play with Kenzie professionally, and then being able to play with Charlotte and Demps [was] like a dream team of BC for me.”

For North, the week one roster marked a “dream come true.”

“When I saw that we were all on the same team, it was like full chills,” North said. “It’s a dream to get to play alongside the three of them. I’ve looked up to them for so long.”

While Apuzzo’s group possessed significant scoring firepower, the team dropped its first two games on Thursday and Saturday.

Fresh off a seven-goal output against Team Bosco, the group entered its final test against then-undefeated Team Moreno on Sunday afternoon. Kent said improving off-ball movement and working off one another became a point of emphasis heading into the game.

“It took us a while to get our chemistry flowing again,” Kent said. “We really tried to take advantage of the time we did have together because who knows [if] it will happen again.”

Although it took them more than two games to hit their stride, Apuzzo, Kent and North spearheaded Team Apuzzo’s 18-7 blowout victory in the weekend’s final game. Apuzzo scored four goals, including two 2-pointers, and North poured in a first-half hat trick en route to a five-goal display. Kent also notched two scores of her own.

The 18-point-barrage marked a new Athletes Unlimited single-game record, beating the previous record of 16.

“We were capable of that all along; it’s just about putting the pieces together,” North said. “We put together a complete game today, and that’s what did the trick.”

Entering the contest, the league’s previous five matchups had been decided by no more than three goals. Defenses often ruled the day, and each possession proved pivotal — as was the case in Team Bosco’s gritty 8-7 victory over Team Glynn earlier in the afternoon.

Less than an hour later, Apuzzo took full command of the draw circle, and her team quickly reaped the benefits. The team captain, who pulled down her professional-best nine draw controls, said her work on the draw energized her all-around game.

In her first two games, reigning league MVP Taylor Moreno backstopped a stingy defensive unit that hadn’t surrendered more than nine goals in a contest. Behind rookie defenders Emily Nalls, Kendall Halpern and Sydney Scales, Team Moreno held two-time Tewaaraton Award winner Izzy Scane to just one goal during her Thursday debut.

That stellar shot-stopping streak appeared in dire straits midway through Sunday afternoon’s matchup, and once Apuzzo unleashed a heat-seeking-missile beyond Moreno’s reach from outside the 2-point-arc, any supposed script from previous games was firmly flipped on its head.

“I was blacking out at those moments,” Apuzzo said of her two long-range conversions. “I was fortunate that my team was able to give me some space. … It opened up the game for us and pushed us ahead.”

While four Boston College alumnae ran rampant in Team Apuzzo’s win, Scales and Cassidy Weeks — two rookies who wrapped up a national title campaign with the Eagles in 2024 — helped Team Moreno secure a co-league-high two victories in three games.

Scales, who officially joined Harvard’s staff as an assistant coach on Thursday, said she has relished the opportunity to play alongside and against “the best of the best.”

“Obviously, we’re new to [the league], but what is gonna kill you is sitting back and that hesitation,” Scales said. “Having that fearless mindset really helped us.”

Following the result, Apuzzo completed a jump from 27th to fourth on the league leaderboard, and she will return as a week two captain alongside Moreno, Britt Read and league-leader Marie McCool.

Currently, McCool holds a 45-point advantage atop the field, as she racked up 443 points in the opening week. Read, Moreno and Apuzzo are well within striking distance, possessing 398, 397 and 394 points, respectively.