Rookies Steal the Show on Opening Night of Athletes Unlimited

SPARKS, Md. — The kids are all right.

Rookie attacker Maggi Hall stole the show on opening night of the Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse season Thursday at USA Lacrosse, scoring four goals (including a 2-pointer) in Team Glynn’s 13-12 win over Team Apuzzo.

Hall, who led the country in scoring as a senior at Florida this year, was named MVP1 and finished the night atop the individual leaderboard with 204 points.

She wasn’t the only rookie who came up big. Nine of Team Moreno’s 10 goals were scored by players making their pro debuts in a 10-7 win over Team Bosco.

The two-time defending AU champion, Moreno herself was stellar once again. She made eight of her 13 saves in the second half and earned MVP2 honors behind Team Bosco midfielder Marie McCool, who had two goals (including a 2-pointer), an assist, five draw controls and three ground balls in the losing cause.

Midfielder Ally Mastroianni (Team Glynn) led all players in stat points (60), buoyed by her eight draw controls to go with two goals (including a 2-pointer) and an assist. She was MVP2 behind Hall.

Other rookies to finish the first night ranked top 10 on the leaderboard were defenders Kendall Halpern (Northwestern) and Emily Nalls (North Carolina), midfielder Ellie Masera (Stony Brook) and attacker Isabella Peterson (James Madison).

Week 1 resumes Sunday with Team Bosco vs. Team Glynn (1 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2) and Team Apuzzo vs. Team Moreno (3:30 p.m. Eastern, Bally Sports).