SPARKS, Md. — In the Book of Unlimited — a Tolkienish leather tome Athletes Unlimited maintains as written record of its four professional women’s sports leagues — Sam Apuzzo had already made multiple marks before Sunday.
But after consecutive runner-up finishes, the fourth-year pro out of Boston College finally got to see her name in large calligraphy above the line that reads, simply, champion.
Apuzzo wrapped up her first Athletes Unlimited title Sunday, leading Team Apuzzo to a 13-10 victory over Team North in the season finale at USA Lacrosse headquarters, where all 55 other players on the AU roster encircled her in a celebration that ended with them hoisting her in the air and chanting her name.
“It just shows we’re such a tight-knit community that love each other, play for each other and play for the sport that we love,” Apuzzo said. “That was such a special moment that I will remember for the rest of my life. You only get that in sports.”
Apuzzo came into the day with a 95-point lead over Charlotte North for the top spot on the leaderboard after scoring overtime winners against Team Kennedy and Team Moreno on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. She doubled that advantage with three goals, an assist and two ground balls while benefitting also from the team win.
Serving as a team captain for the 12th straight week — the longest streak by any Athletes Unlimited athlete in any sport — Apuzzo improved to 27-9 in that role.
“She always puts the team on her back,” said Dempsey Arsenault, Apuzzo’s longtime friend and teammate who was her top pick in the last two weekly drafts. “She’s such a natural leader.”
Apuzzo scored the first goal 90 seconds into the game, taking her defender behind the goal and beating goalie Kady Glynn on a wraparound bouncer. She punctuated an impressive first quarter with a stepdown from just inside the 2-point arc to stake her team to a 6-2 lead.
North got going in the second quarter, beating two of the league’s top defenders in Meg Douty (a roll dodge to fadeaway jump shot) and Abby Bosco (shot on the run down the alley) to jumpstart a four-goal run. It was tied at 7 at halftime.
Team Apuzzo regained the lead for good in the third quarter. Sam Geiersbach, another Apuzzo ride-or-die who grew up on the same street as her in West Babylon, N.Y., scored two goals in 46 seconds and Erin Coykendall shot a twizzler in traffic to make it 10-7.
North did not go quietly. Wearing a black compression sleeve over her right knee after injuring it earlier in the game, she scored on an 85-mph crank shot from the center hash for her 50th goal of the season — an Athletes Unlimited record — early in the fourth quarter.
Team North was able to pull within one with a pair of goals 40 seconds apart, but Kasey Choma added an insurance tally for Team Apuzzo and Arsenault sealed the 13-10 win with a buzzer-beater assisted by Ally Mastroianni — a play that allowed Mastroianni to move past two-time defending AU champion Taylor Moreno for fourth place on the leaderboard and a medal.
But the day belonged to Apuzzo, who moments later stood alone on a pedestal as confetti cannons shot blue, gold, orange and purple streamers at her face.
“She’s the best player I’ve ever seen and the best leader I’ve ever known,” Geiersbach said. “I’m just so happy for her that she gets to finally win this medal with her family in the crowd.”
Apuzzo said she seldom thinks about the second-place finishes until someone asks her about it. She played on three NCAA runner-up teams at Boston College before the Eagles broke through after she had graduated, serving as an assistant coach for national title winners in 2021 and this past spring. She won a third-place medal her rookie year in Athletes Unlimited and could not get past Moreno the last two years.
Now she has her name inscribed forever in the Book of Unlimited to go with her 2022 world championship with the U.S. Women’s National Team.
“My fire to want to keep competing and evolving and changing what I have behind my game, that doesn’t end no matter what happened today,” said Apuzzo, who is a member of the Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse Player Executive Committee. “It’s amazing. I’m so grateful and I’m so touched. But now it makes it that much harder to stay here. There’s so much incredible talent coming up. It means a lot but at the same time, you start over next year.”
ATHLETES UNLIMITED MEDALISTS
1. Sam Apuzzo (1,852)
2. Charlotte North (1,654)
3. Ally Kennedy (1,582)
4. Ally Mastroianni (1,385)
Athletes Unlimited Champion: Sam Apuzzo
Defensive Player of the Year: Emily Nalls
Teammate of the Year: Kat Buchanan
All-Defensive Team: Katie Detwiler, Meg Douty, Emily Nalls, Sydney Scales
