The final roster for Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse features 17 players from the World Championship and World Games.
There are 56 players playing at USA Lacrosse Headquarters in Sparks, Md., with athletes competing for a share of more than $1 million and all games on ESPN networks.
The games start July 21, with games taking place Thursday nights, then during the day Saturdays and Sundays.
The league, in its second season, uses a unique scoring system in which teams are drafted weekly and individuals earn points for team and their own performance. Taylor Cummings, the World MVP this year who is not participating at AU Pro this summer, earned the championships last season.
Three of last year's top five finishers are back in Caylee Waters (2), Sam Apuzzo (3) and Brittany Read (5).
Check out the full release, and rosters below.
2022 Roster
4 Sam Apuzzo
11 Dempsey Arsenault
36 Becca Block
83 Kristen Carr
35 Lizzie Colson
54 Sarah Cooper
40 Aurora Cordingley
99 Paulina DiFatta
52 Molly Dougherty
29 Meg Douty
15 Cortney Fortunato
38 Sam Geiersbach
8 Katrina Geiger
3 Lauren Gilbert
25 Jill Girardi
0 Kady Glynn
12 Grace Griffin
16 Scottie Rose Growney
34 Alex Holman
7 Amanda Johansen
42 Ally Kennedy
10 Kenzie Kent
28 Nicole Levy
66 Molly Little
37 Halle Majorana
21 Ally Mastroianni
4 Marie McCool
1 Amber McKenzie
46 Lindsey McKone
2 Izzy McMahon
6 Kelly McPartland
5 Kerrigan Miller
77 Taylor Moreno
88 Charlotte North
9 Katie O'Donnell
39 Jamie Ortega
24 Ally Palermo
47 Alyssa Parrella
31 Kyra Pelton
41 Shayna Pirreca
44 Sydney Pirreca
19 Britt Read
33 Mira Shane
26 Ella Simkins
17 Mollie Stevens
20 Courtney Taylor
13 Sammy Jo Tracy
91 Emma Trenchard
18 Taylor VanThof
23 Caroline Wakefield
22 Haley Warden
43 Caylee Waters
27 Sydney Watson
30 Molly Wolf
45 Kayla Wood
The final roster is set for the second season of Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse, the only professional women’s lacrosse league in the world. Featuring 56 of the world’s best athletes competing for a share of more than $1 million, the 2022 Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse season will run from July 21-August 14, with all games taking place at USA Lacrosse Headquarters in Sparks, Maryland, just outside Baltimore.
Tickets can be purchased at auprosports.com/tickets, and all games will be broadcast live exclusively on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN+ (full schedule below).
Headlined by All-World Team members Aurora Cordingley (Canada), Britt Reed (England) and Marie McCool (United States), the 2022 roster includes 17 participants from either the World Lacrosse Women’s Lacrosse Championship, which ended last week in Towson, Maryland, or The World Games, which are currently taking place in Birmingham, Alabama.
McCool, Team USA’s second-leading scorer with 20 goals at the World Championship, joins Team USA teammates Sam Apuzzo, Dempsey Arsenault, Becca Block, Lizzie Colson, Meg Douty, Ally Kennedy, Kenzie Kent, Ally Mastroianni, Charlotte North, Emma Trenchard, Haley Warden and Caylee Waters. Team USA earned its fourth straight World Championship title after defeating Canada, 11-8, in last Saturday’s Gold Medal Game.
Cordingley, meanwhile, tied for the Team Canada lead with 26 points after scoring 14 goals with 12 assists in helping Canada win its third consecutive Silver medal. Read also claimed a spot on the All-World Team after registering a .441 save percentage, including 13 stops in the Bronze medal game victory over Australia.
Lindsay McKone and Sammy Jo Tracy will also return for their second Athletes Unlimited campaign after representing Israel at the two events. McKone paced Israel with 21 goals and 35 points at the World Championship and will join Tracy for The World Games.
Like its other leagues, Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse features a range of scoring innovations to bring athletes and fans a unique and intense version of the sport. Individual athletes earn points based on both team wins and individual performance and become the champions in team sports. Points are earned on every play and the leaderboard will change constantly. In addition, teams change each week, with the top four athletes in the standings serving as captains and drafting their teams. At the end of the season, the player with the most points is crowned as individual champion. Waters (No. 2), Apuzzo (No. 3) and Read (No. 5) were among the top five finishers in the 2021 Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse season.
“Interest in women’s professional lacrosse continues to increase, and the Athletes Unlimited model – along with the massive platform of ESPN – is the ideal showcase for these amazing athletes,” said Abi Jackson, Athletes Unlimited Director of Sport for Lacrosse. “We’re looking forward to a lot of excitement at USA Lacrosse Headquarters and a tremendous summer for this sport in America."
In addition to game coverage, ESPN and Athletes Unlimited collaborated to create Going Pro: Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse. This four-part series is available now on ESPN+, the industry-leading sports streaming service, and follows four Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse rookies from the inaugural season as they competed as professionals for the first time, experiencing challenges and lessons learned during their rookie season. The series focuses on Britt Brown, Mira Shane, Ella Simkins and Izzy McMahon. The episodes chronicle how lacrosse has shaped their lives, performances on the field week-to-week, leadership and team-building challenges faced, and their efforts to diversify lacrosse and bring the sport to new audiences.
-Inside Lacrosse
InsideLacrosse.com
