Kenzie Kent's Week 2 Rise was Part Physical, Part Mental

Kenzie Kent wasn’t quite herself in the first week of Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse’s third season. She scored two goals in three games and had a negative point performance in the weekend’s third and final contest (-12). When all was said and done, Kent sat 51st on the leaderboard.

Week two was a complete 180, with Kent racking up 377 points and surging 35 spots to No. 16.

What gives? It was part physical, part mental.

“The first week, it took a little while for me to get going,” Kent said. “I had this little rib injury. I wasn’t as confident dodging or going to goal. I was able to rest more the second week and get that under control. Going into the second week, I felt more comfortable dodging.”

Ice helped the rib injury, and Kent has numbers to prove it. She scored seven times and added an assist and five draw controls. But getting the ball between the pipes also means getting into the right headspace. 

“I realized I needed to pick it up a little more,” Kent said. “I like to go out there, have fun and have a clear mind. I realized that, after that first week, I wasn’t as focused as I needed to be. That helped me a lot, and so did putting a lot of energy into my teammates and making sure they were feeling really confident and going hard to goal helped, too. When you have great chemistry, it adds a different level of fun and chemistry into the game.”

Chemistry can be challenging to build throughout a five-week season that sees players change teams weekly. It’s a departure from the college game, which also offers a more regimented training schedule. Kent is getting used to the grind in her third year in AU, though she says she benefited from training as an alternate for the U.S. women’s national team during the world championship last year.

“It’s a little harder to get into the flow of things because it’s completely different playing and training on your own,” Kent said. “It takes time to get used to the pace.”

Kent helped fuel a fast-paced start for Team Moreno against Team Read on Saturday. She scored two first-half goals to help her squad jet out to a 5-0 lead and finished with a hat trick as part of a 12-4 win. Kent finished the game with 198 leaderboard points.

“The chemistry was just really flowing,” Kent said. “Charlotte [North] had a huge game, too, which helped. The defense really had a lot of players to worry about.”

North, who Kent missed playing with by one year at BC, also netted a hat trick and added an assist in that game. Though the two didn’t don Eagles uniforms together, Kent has embraced the opportunity to play with the transcendent star in AU.

“She’s amazing because she makes you feel good out there and encourages everyone else on the field to go to goal,” Kent said. “It’s really awesome to be able to play with someone who believes in you and trusts you.”

Kent has also learned to trust old rivals, like Taylor Moreno. Moreno was a redshirt sophomore at one of BC’s fiercest rivals, North Carolina, during Kent’s final year as an Eagle. For the first two weeks of AU, they were teammates (Kent will play for Team Bosco in week three, which begins Thursday).

“She really allowed the offense to take a lot of chances and risks with the ball,” Kent said. “That makes it a lot easier as an offensive player to not worry about turning the ball over, to just make a play, and knowing she has our backs back there. That alone helps the offense flow really well.”

Although changing teams weekly was an adjustment, Kent says the camaraderie in AU has driven her to suit up for each of the league’s first three seasons.

“My favorite part is that we have created this community in the lacrosse world,” Kent said. “Taking these relationships and seeing them turn into lifelong friendships has been incredible.”

And Kent is focusing on relationships on and off the field — not the leaderboard — as she looks toward the second half of the season. 

“It’s easy to lose focus playing three games in a weekend,” Kent said. “It’s a lot physically and mentally to get up for games, but when you are having fun and enjoying the people around you, it makes it a lot easier.”