Dejah Mulipola’s Athletes Unlimited title represents the start of a new chapter for the California native.

After graduating from Arizona in 2021 and helping Team USA to a silver medal in Tokyo, Mulipola felt lost. Then came her breakout 2022 Athletes Unlimited season.

The star catcher finished tied for 18th as a rookie in the 2021 AU season, then tied for third in the two-week AUX competition in June. To start this season, she burst out of the game, earning captainship during Week 2.

Mulipola continued to surge ahead of her competition. She ended the season at the top of the league in the batting average (.432), on-base percentage (.569), slugging percentage (1.182), home runs (9), RBIs (19), and stat points (632), making her the first-ever triple-crown winner in Athletes Unlimited history.

“After the Olympics walking away with the silver medal left a salty taste in my mouth. Then graduating from college and kind of refiguring out my identity it was a low point for me, you know, finishing those two chapters,” Mulipola told Just Women’s Sports. “So to finally be here and find success in softball and to find who I was outside of softball has done a lot for me personally on and off the field. It’s so freeing and it’s so fun.”

Entering the final game of the season, Mulipola trailed pitcher Alyssa Denham by 184 points on the league leaderboard. True to herself, Mulipola tried to focus on attitude rather than outcome heading into the game.

“I didn’t want to be result-oriented,” Mulipola said, “because at the end of the day that wasn’t going to be what gave me joy and it wasn’t going to be something that gave others joy on my team.”

The results, however, swung in Mulipola’s favor.

The 24-year-old capped off her historic AU run with a thrilling finale, blasting a home run to secure her team the win and herself the 2022 championship in her final matchup of the season.

“I just felt so overwhelmed with emotion that I started tearing up,” Mulipola recalls of her trip around the bases. “And when I got to home I actually started crying and everyone was just genuinely celebrating me and when they saw me crying, they started crying too. So a couple of us were actually crying in the dugout.”

The catcher’s crown makes her the first position player to win a softball title. Cat Osterman won the first in 2020, and Aleshia Ocasio won in 2021.

“Being a catcher, you never really get credit,” Mulipola said. “So it was pretty neat to be the first non-pitcher to be able to win.”

While sad to call it a wrap on the 2022 campaign, Mulipola already is looking forward to next year’s AU competition. Heralding the elite level of the league, Mulipola hopes she can continue to grow the game both through her stellar performance on the field and as an ambassador off it.

For the first time in Athletes Unlimited Softball history, it’s unlikely that a pitcher will be crowned champion.

In 2020, veteran pitcher Cat Osterman ran away with the inaugural AU trophy. The next year, right-hander Aleshia Ocasio won it by over 300 points. And in June’s shortened AUX season, Danielle O’Toole edged out fellow pitcher Rachel Garcia for the title.

O’Toole has put up a good fight during the league’s third season, currently in fifth place with 1,226 points, 236 points shy of the leader, catcher Dejah Mulipolah. Alyssa Denham, in third place with 1,316 points, is the only other pitcher in the top 10. Infielder Amanda Chidester (second, 1,364 points) and outfielder Haylie McCleney (fourth, 1,316 points) are the next-closest to first with one week remaining in the season.

Each season, in addition to a Defender of the Year award, AU names just one champion based on who finishes atop the leaderboard. But for most of the athletes, Athletes Unlimited has always been about more than the hardware. It’s an opportunity for them to compete with some of the top players in their sport and continue their softball careers.

Garcia is in her first year with Athletes Unlimited. The pitcher took last year off after winning a silver medal with Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics. Though she’s currently in 26th with 962 points and off pace for the title, she’s been one of the best pitchers to step into the circle this season. Her 3.00 ERA through 39 innings is third-best among pitchers with over 30 innings pitched, behind O’Toole’s 3.03 ERA through 34 IP and Denham’s 1.62 ERA through 34 IP.

“You’re facing the best hitters in the nation,” Garcia told Just Women’s Sports. “You’re facing people who are veterans of the game, so you have to be a little bit more smart. It’s more like a mind game at this point. I came out during AUX only throwing two pitches and being able to get away with it. Now I’m out here and I had to put other pitches into my arsenal.”

While her pitching has kept her competitive in the standings this season, Garcia says she’s more focused on other areas of the game, like her pitch count. The leaderboard, in fact, has been the last thing on her mind.

“I want my team to win. That’s what’s important to me,” she said. “I don’t personally like to look at the leaderboard. I like to look more at my pitching, how it’s rolling … because I feel like, for me as a person, [the leaderboard is] something that I think is more of a distraction than anything.”

Many of AU’s athletes are still trying to learn the rules of accumulating individual points and applying them to their performances.

Players can earn points for every element of the game, with a base of 10 points for plays like a single, a stolen base and a drawn walk. Doubles amount to 20 points, triples 30 and home runs 40. Points can also be lost, such as when a player gets caught stealing. Pitchers earn four points for each out and lose 10 for each run allowed.

Players also earn 10 points for each inning won and 50 points for a game victory. MVP points are also up for grabs among those who have standout performances.

“I feel like each week it’s just a different challenge. You kind of learn the game in a different way,” shortstop Sydney Romero said of the points system.

“Being able to pay attention to [the individual points] and winning each inning — really taking the game inning by inning because each inning literally matters — has helped me personally because you have to pay attention literally to each inning, and you can’t miss a beat in between.”

“You pay more attention to detail,” added infielder Sierra Romero, Sydney’s sister. “So even if your team is losing, you’re thinking, ‘OK, as a team, how can we win this inning to get everybody points?’ You’re still thinking about the team aspect of it. Every single inning matters, and what’s cool is even if you are losing right now, if we can win this inning, we got ourselves some points, and we might even take the lead.”

Sydney Romero, in 21st place entering the final three games of the AU season, didn’t always have an optimistic perspective of the leaderboard. Coming from a standout career at Oklahoma, where she won two College World Series, and the National Pro Fastpitch league, she had to learn how to approach the new rules in her two years with AU.

“Last year, I could not look at the point system. It would drive me nuts knowing where I was at on the leaderboard,” she said. “But this year, I actually like to pay attention to it and look at it because I feel like I have a better understanding. And it doesn’t make me that mad anymore.”

Of course, Sydney says she still wants to compete and move up the leaderboard, though her sentiment isn’t shared across the league. Sierra, for one, has a laser focus on winning each time she steps onto the field.

“I might know the basic stuff, but I couldn’t tell you where anybody’s at on the leaderboard ever,” she said. “I am a perfectionist [about hitting], but for me I’ve just noticed that not paying attention to the leaderboard has helped me and I’m just focusing on winning games. I think the one time I looked at it was last year when Sydney showed me.”

AU’s first-ever champion took a holistic approach from the start. Osterman has since retired, but her message continues to resonate with current players.

“At the end of the day, does [our performance] make or break where we end in the standings? Yes,” the softball legend said last year of the Athletes Unlimited leaderboard. “But does it make or break our careers? No, not at all.”

Emma Hruby is an Associate Editor at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @EHruby.

Dejah Mulipola finished atop the Athletes Unlimited leaderboard for the third straight week, which puts her in prime position heading into the final stretch.

The catcher led her team to a 3-0 win Sunday over Team McCleney to claim the golden jerseys for her team for championship week. Amanda Chidester, Alyssa Denham and Haylie McCleney will serve as the three other captains for the final week of the Athletes Unlimited Softball season.

Stellar pitching from Shannon Saile and Taylor McQuillin anchored Team Mulipola in Sunday’s victory, with McQuillin earning MVP 1 honors after conceding one hit over five innings while throwing five strikeouts. She relieved Saile, who claimed the MVP 3 nod for her strikeout and three walks.

Mulipola powered her team on offense, scoring twice while knocking in a homer in the sixth inning for MVP 2 accolades.

“Credit to all four of our pitchers… Everybody is going to have their moment to shine and when their name was called, they did what they needed to do,” said Mulipola of Saile and McQuillin. “Big shoutout to them for holding it down for our hitting lineup to come through, and we did today.”

Chidester preserved her second-place spot on the AU leaderboard Sunday by powering her team to a 1-0 victory over Team Jaquish.

Alyssa Denham played hero from the mound, allowing no hits through 5.2 innings before Morgan Zerkle smashed a double to left-center field. The tidy pitching performance earned Denham MVP 1 honors, as well as 120 win points and 84 stat points.

Kelsey Harshman claimed MVP 2 accolades after blasting the lone run of the game, hitting a double to right center field in the sixth inning.

Though Team Jaquish was on the losing side Sunday, pitcher Rachel Garcia walked away with MVP 3 points, allowing only one hit and notching a season-high nine strikeouts.

The final Athletes Unlimited draft of the year kicks off at 5 p.m. Monday on YouTube.

Sydney and Sierra Romero have enjoyed getting to play on the same field again through Athletes Unlimited Softball.

After growing up in an athletic family — younger sister Sophia is an outfielder at Vista Murrieta High School and brother Mikey was a first-round draft choice of the Boston Red Sox this year — the sisters separated in college. Sierra, 28, went off to the University of Michigan, where she became the first player in NCAA history to record 300 runs, 300 hits and 300 RBIs and left as the NCAA’s all-time leader in career grand slams (11) and runs (302). Sydney, 25, starred at Oklahoma, winning two NCAA championships in 2016 and ‘17 and finishing as the Sooners’ all-time leader in at-bats (853) and second in hits (320).

The two reunited on the USSSA Pride in 2019, but Sierra was injured while Sydney earned All-NPF honors during the Pride’s run to a championship. Now, a year after Sydney joined Athletes Unlimited for her first season, she and Sierra are finally back on the softball diamond together with two weeks left in the 2022 AU campaign.

“I feel like AU has provided just such a professional background when it comes to being a professional athlete,” Sydney says. “I think it’s really important just for the future of softball, specifically because they’re hearing us out and they’re applying it to the next year.”

Sierra is grateful to be back playing after spending over a year rehabbing ACL and meniscus injuries. Used to having Michigan’s athletic resources at her fingertips in college, Sierra sought out treatment on her own and ended up having three different surgeries to repair her knee.

“I was kind of going in blind,” she says. “I had to do it all by myself. That was definitely the hardest part just because I didn’t know what I was looking for.”

She put the knee to the test earlier this summer during AUX, Athletes Unlimited’s shortened softball season in San Diego, just over an hour’s drive from the Romero family’s hometown of Murrieta, Calif.

“We just so happened to get drafted to the same team for the first weekend at AUX, which was just luck,” Sierra says. “I feel like it’s a full-circle moment, just being able to come back, play with her and be around her 24/7.”

Sierra and Sydney, after enjoying remarkably successful college careers, have leaned on each other through the challenges of the often unreliable and unsustainable professional and international softball landscape. As dual Mexican-American citizens, they both tried out for the Mexican national softball team ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, with Sydney representing the team during its run to fourth place.

For Sierra, in her seventh year as a pro, Athletes Unlimited has reignited her love of the game. Having briefly contemplated retirement before the season, she no longer plans to do so this year.

“I feel like I’ve seen it at a lot of different levels and stages. After joining AU this year for the first time, I definitely think that we’re on the right path,” Sierra says.

Still, professional softball salaries don’t typically allow for year-round dedication to the sport. In the fall, Sydney will start as an assistant softball coach at Duke University after spending two seasons as a student assistant at her alma mater.

“I couldn’t think of a better place to honestly start out, going out there and meeting Coach [Marissa] Young and meeting the girls,” she says. “Taking this route, I think, is not only helping me as a coach, but helping me as an athlete myself. Being able to continue to play softball and play Athletes Unlimited for the five weeks in the summer, and then going into my coaching job it works out perfectly. I feel like it’s a dream job. I’m living in the best of both worlds.”

Before that, she and Sierra will finish out the Athletes Unlimited regular season. Sydney currently ranks 29th with 704 points, while Sierra sits in 42nd with 618 points. Sydney is also tied for third with nine runs on the season, two behind league leader Haylie McCleney. Sierra has four runs off six hits so far and, in the infield, has recorded 15 assists, 15 putouts and three double plays.

Both admit they are very competitive, especially in the batter’s box. But that doesn’t mean they’ve taken the same approach to AU’s unique points system.

“I don’t know the point system because I don’t look at it. I couldn’t tell you where anybody’s at on the leaderboard ever,” Sierra says. “My focus is just winning. And I feel like if I keep that mindset, then everything will fall into place.”

Sydney, meanwhile, has learned how not to let the leaderboard affect her mindset. Instead, she views each week as a different challenge.

“It makes you appreciate the little things a little bit more in the game, and really put the game into perspective,” she says, heading into Week 4 of the five-week season. “Because all of these things mean something like, a walk means something, a hit by pitch. Those little things that we kind of take for granted, in a game they all matter.”

Emma Hruby is an Associate Editor at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @EHruby.

Dejah Mulipola preserved her place atop the Athletes Unlimited leaderboard through the third week of competition. She boasts 1,094 points, 18 more than her nearest competitor Haylie McCleney, and will serve as a captain for a third straight week.

The catcher will be joined by McCleney, Sahvanna Jaquish and Amanda Chidester in the Week 4 captains lineup.

Mulipola leads the league with 13 runs batted in, and she is tied with Chidester for the lead with five home runs this season. McCleney, though, leads the league with 16 hits and 11 runs scored, and her team pulled off a 9-6 win over Mulipola’s team Sunday.

Danielle Gibson’s dominant performance pushed Team McCleney to victory. The corner infielder blasted her first home run of the season in the second inning and captured MVP 1 honors and 210 points for the game.

McCleney clinched MVP 2 recognition and 188 points by going 3-for-4 with two singles and a double. She got on the board in the seventh inning to help her team past Team Mulipola.

Though her side lost, Shannon Rhodes earned MVP 3 points after notching a pair of home runs to keep Team Mulipola competitive.

In Sunday’s other matchup, Team Jaquish posted a 12-8 win over Team Chidester for a 2-1 record in Week 3.

Abby Ramirez secured MVP 1 honors, recording three runs batted in for a game-high 170 leaderboard points. Chidester added two hits for her team, blasting a home run in her MVP 2 performance.

Sashel Palacios earned MVP 3 points despite her side’s loss, driving in three runs for Team Jaquish.

The Athletes Unlimited Week 4 draft is set for 5 p.m. ET  Monday on YouTube.

The second season of Athletes Unlimited lacrosse concluded with rookie goaltender Taylor Moreno being crowned champion – a mere three months after she won an NCAA title with North Carolina.

“It definitely wasn’t anything that I was expecting,” Moreno told Just Women’s Sports. “My focus was just on having fun and enjoying the opportunity that I was given. Obviously, that ended in the best possible way it could have ended. It’s surreal.”

Moreno amassed 1,798 points on the season, which put her just 16 points ahead of second-place finisher Sam Apuzzo. The two duked it out atop the leaderboard for the final three weeks after Moreno vaulted to the top as a member of Team Apuzzo in the first week.

The goaltender says she was lucky to have been a member of Team Apuzzo in that first week, as their team went undefeated. After that, she was on her own – having to navigate learning the Athletes Unlimited system as a rookie while also learning how to draft a team.

“I think every draft that I did, I learned something new about myself and about all these girls in the league,” she said.

The education paid off, as Team Moreno went undefeated in the final week. The squad was propelled in part by Kenzie Kent, who had a hat trick in every single game and amassed a total of 10 goals on the weekend – which helped her finish second in the league in goals this season (26).

A pivotal game Sunday against Team Apuzzo was key to Moreno earning the title. Her team won 9-7 — and also took the points for the third quarter (worth 40 due to rollover points), which pushed Moreno ahead of Apuzzo.

“Those guys were really having so much fun, and I think that was a huge thing that made our team so successful this past weekend,” Moreno said. “Everyone was on the same page. They were gritty, you could tell they were definitely into it and having a lot of fun. That, to me, was all that matters.”

Charlotte North, who was playing for Team Glynn this week, exploded offensively on Sunday, scoring six goals. Her eight total on the weekend helped her secure the top spot in league goals on the season with 31.

Apuzzo, who finished second with 1,782 points, led the league in assists (16) while adding 24 goals. She also tallied the most win points (1,130) and the most MVP points (255) while losing just two games.

One of four players named to the 2022 Lacrosse All-Defensive Team, Becca Block was voted the Defensive Player of the Year. Finishing with 1,023 points, she caused 15 turnovers, collected 22 ground balls and won 14 draw controls this season.

“It’s such an honor to be named GEICO Defensive Player of the Year among such an elite group of athletes who competed in Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse this season,” Block said. “Kudos to GEICO for supporting the defensive side of the game which isn’t always recognized and congrats to all the players on another successful season.”

Full scores

Thursday, Aug. 11:

  • Team Johansen 5, Team Apuzzo 8
  • Team Moreno 13, Team Glynn 8

Saturday, Aug. 13:

  • Team Glynn 5, Team Apuzzo 11
  • Team Johansen 9, Team Moreno 10

Sunday, Aug. 14:

  • Team Glynn 13, Team Johansen 16
  • Team Apuzzo 7, Team Moreno 9

Charlotte North didn’t have much time to reflect on her storied college career this summer. One month after North and Boston College fell to UNC in the NCAA lacrosse championship, a 12-11 thriller, the attacker was suiting up for Team USA at the World Championships in Maryland. And 12 days after winning a gold medal in that tournament, she started her pro career with Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse.

To North, the past few months have flown by. But she’s also tried her best to enjoy the “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to play on the biggest stages of her career so far.

“I’ve tried to soak in every moment I could,” North told Just Women’s Sports this week. “I’m very fortunate that I’ve had an opportunity to continue to play with Athletes Unlimited and with the national team.”

It’s no surprise to see North getting this much exposure so soon after leaving Boston College.

In three seasons with the Eagles, she put together a resume that can be considered one of the greatest of all time. In 2021, she led BC to its first-ever NCAA title, tied the championship game record with six goals against Syracuse, was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament and won the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s best lacrosse player.

Then, North came back this year and did nearly all of it again. With 92 goals on the season, North reached 358 for her career and surpassed Stony Brook’s Courtney Murphy as the NCAA’s all-time goals leader. She also became the fifth women’s player to win the Tewaaraton Award more than once.

The challenge of stepping right from the collegiate season into training camp with Team USA for the World Lacrosse Championships was not lost on North. But rather than get caught up in it, she embraced the experience head on.

At the World Championships, North led Team USA with 23 goals, which included five hat tricks and four games with four plus goals. She also finished the tournament tied for second on the team with 28 points.

From there, like many playing Athletes Unlimited this season, North’s campaign has extended into August. As a rookie, she’s had to adjust to the league’s individual points system and rule quirks that make the game “super fast” and “very physical,” as she calls it.

“It’s a really fun format,” she said. “It is an adjustment, just because you’re hitting the highest level of lacrosse that could be played. And so it is physical, and you’ve got to prepare for that.”

A highlight for North has been getting to play alongside Boston College alums Sam Apuzzo and Kenzie Kent in different weeks. Both graduated before North joined the Eagles on a transfer from Duke.

“I looked up to them both for so long,” she said. “I got to play with them with the U.S., but also just being on their team here has been so much fun. It’s just been an incredible experience.”

As North matures as a player this summer, she’s also been a part of a broader shift in the sport. Lacrosse has been right at the forefront of viewership increases in women’s sports. This year’s NCAA final on ESPN peaked at 590,000 viewers, with an average audience of 428,000, making it the most-watched women’s college lacrosse game in history. The World Lacrosse Championships, fresh off a brand new deal, aired on ESPN’s networks, as has this season of Athletes Unlimited.

It’s that kind of exposure that North believes will continue to grow the game.

“When I was growing up, I mean, I would do anything to get my hands on college games and film and YouTube highlights. It wasn’t as easily accessible as it is now, which is amazing, especially on the women’s side,” she said.

“It’s just showing that once given the chance, there are so many people who are fans of the game, and it’s just growing exponentially.”

There is also hope that the growth of the sport at the collegiate, professional and international levels will spur lacrosse’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

“So many people are working extremely hard to get lacrosse to where it deserves to be, which is in the Olympics,” said North, noting that the Sixes format used internationally aligns more with the men’s game and gets everyone involved.

“I think a lot of people will turn their eyes to sport and become fans of it,” she added.

But before that potential opportunity rolls around, and before she returns to Boston this fall to finish her Master’s in Sports Administration and host a few lacrosse camps, North is focused on her final two Athletes Unlimited games this weekend.

Currently 13th on the AU leaderboard with 954 points, North leads the league with 25 goals. She is one of multiple rookies from the 2022 draft class to grace the top half of the leaderboard, led by Apuzzo (1,483 points) with two game days remaining before a champion is crowned. Lauren Gilbert, a rookie out of Northwestern, sits just ahead of North in the player standings but trails her on the scoring leaderboard by one goal.

“Ally Mastroianni (10th) and Emma Trenchard (20th) have both been just dominating,” North said when asked about her fellow rookies. “For them to continue to up their game and play at every level has been awesome. There are so many talented players. The Northwestern girls are very talented and Taylor Moreno has been crushing it. It’s been really fun playing with all of them.”

She also has her sights set on those coming after, with NCAA stars like Northwestern’s Izzy Scane and Syracuse’s Meaghan Tyrrell soon to enter the pro ranks. For the sake of the sport, North welcomes the competition.

“It’s so exciting for our game,” North said. “There’s so much talent here, there’s so much talent at the collegiate level. It’s awesome.”

Emma Hruby is an Associate Editor at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @EHruby.

For Athletes Unlimited midfielder Marie McCool, this summer has been a whirlwind.

In July, McCool helped Team USA to a gold medal at the World Lacrosse Championships. A few weeks later, she was back on the field in Maryland for the second season of Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse.

As she’s navigated each event, McCool has been aware of the toll the competitive games are taking on her body. It’s the most lacrosse she’s played consecutively since college, and she’s been taking steps in her recovery to ensure she remains in top shape each week.

“I kind of look at it as like a gift and an opportunity today to be able to play the sport that I love,” McCool tells Just Women’s Sports.

That mindset has resulted in some gutsy chances and highlight-reel performances.

At the world championships, McCool’s behind-the-back shot, which made SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays and caught the eyes of women’s sports figures like USWNT legend Heather O’Reilly, was actually the first that she’s ever taken in a game. That the assist came from Kylie Ohlmiller, her United States teammate and friend over the years, was an added bonus.

After winning a World Championship with Team USA in 2017 as a soon-to-be college senior, McCool entered this year’s tournament as a veteran. She embraced the role and, after leading Team USA to an 11-8 win over Canada with three goals in the title game, was named to the 10-player All-World team. She finished the tournament ranked second on the team with 20 goals, first in shooting percentage at 76.9 percent and third in draw controls with 17.

Through the first three weeks of the Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse season, McCool has leaned on that worldly experience — as well as her learnings from last AU season — to help guide the many talented rookies. Though she is 36 spots off the lead entering the final week of the 2022 campaign, with 607 total points through nine games, McCool has shown flashes of the attacking brilliance that have characterized her entire career.

“I think when something’s new, it’s really important to keep confident in yourself and your abilities. But sometimes you’re put in uncomfortable positions that can be challenging, so how can we build their confidence and help them maintain it when they’re still in that adjustment period and feeling a little bit uncomfortable?” she says of the younger players she’s mentored.

“I think that’s another really important piece that a lot of us veterans and people who played in the league last year are trying to help the rookies out with.”

McCool can also provide a unique perspective on the transition from college to the pros. After a standout career at the University of North Carolina from 2015-18, McCool entered the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League (WPLL) and won a championship in 2019, one year after being named WPLL MVP as a member of the Baltimore Brave.

Despite enjoying immediate success, she admits it was difficult to navigate a less structured athletic schedule, and she leaned on her U.S. teammates for advice.

“That year after I graduated, that summer into that fall was probably one of the toughest periods of time in my life,” McCool says. “You go from not having time to do stuff because you’re on such a set schedule to OK, I have time on my hands, but I don’t know what to do with it.

“I’ve always been a pretty determined person, and I was working out. But I think trying to figure out what workouts worked best for me on my own was the biggest challenge.”

A unique element of Athletes Unlimited, beyond the weekly drafting structure and points system, is that former collegiate rivals can be teammates at different points of the season. McCool, a two-time finalist for the Tewaaraton Award given annually to the best women’s and men’s college lacrosse players, has grown close with players from Boston College, Maryland and other top programs.

Building those relationships within lacrosse has helped elevate her level of play, too. After appearing for Team Waters and Team Arsenault earlier in the season, she’ll suit up for Team Moreno for the final three games. Each week she’s adjusted to her new environment, scoring 10 goals and winning a league-leading 35 draw controls. She’s also tied for second in shots saved alongside Charlotte North with 21.

Getting to play with former Boston College standout Dempsey Arsenault on Team USA and during Athletes Unlimited has been a highlight for McCool, who said she was elated to be drafted by the midfielder in Week 2.

“I was like, ‘Thank goodness it’s been so long,’” she says. “As much as I hated matching up on defense to Dempsey in college, it has been so nice to be able to be on her team.”

While she’ll go up against Arsenault once again this week, McCool remains thankful for the opportunity Athletes Unlimited affords to form relationships that will last long past her days playing the sport that she loves.

Emma Hruby is an Associate Editor at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @EHruby.

Dejah Mulipola took control of the Athletes Unlimited Softball leaderboard in Week 2, while Haylie McCleney and Amanda Chidester each made big leaps into the top four.

McCleney made the largest leap of the week, rocketing up 35 spots on the leaderboard to second behind Mulipola, who rose two spots to take the lead. Chidester, who is in her final season of professional softball, rose 29 spots to the fourth position after her own big weekend.

Mulipola sits tied for second in hits, with nine through 18 at bats. Hannah Flippen and Bubba Nickles lead all players with 10 hits apiece. Nickles leads the league in RBIs with 10, while Chidester and Mulipola are right behind her with nine.

Carrie Eberle remains one of the league’s best pitchers, having a 2.94 ERA through 16 innings pitched. However defending Athletes Unlimited champion Aleshia Ocasio is hot on her heels with a 3.11 ERA through 18 innings pitched.

AUX champion Danielle O’Toole has been strong in the circle as well with a 2.92 ERA through 12 innings pitched. Alyssa Denham, also through 12 innings, has a 2.69 ERA.

Erika Piancastelli hit the season’s first grand slam during Team Mulipola’s 13-8 win over Team Harshman, earning her MVP 1 for Game 11.

“The bat I had prior to that, I just missed it. So I was like, oh I just want to make some good contact and I finally did,” said Piancastelli postgame. “Trusting the process…I finally hit one out.”

Aliyah Andrews had the defensive play of the week, laying out for a hit during Saturday’s slate of games.

Final Scores: 

Friday, August 5:

  • Team Mulipola 6, Team Jaquish 4
  • Team Eberle 5, Team Harshman 1

Saturday, August 6:

  • Team Harshman 8, Team Jaquish 9
  • Team Mulipola 8, Team Eberle 2

Sunday, August 7:

  • Team Harshman 8, Team Mulipola 13
  • Team Jaquish 6, Team Eberle 3

Taylor Moreno, Sam Apuzzo, Amanda Johansen and Kady Glynn top the Athletes Unlimited leaderboard heading into the final week of competition, earning them spots as Week 4 captains.

Just six points separate Moreno and Apuzzo on the leaderboard with the season coming down to the wire. The duo went head-to-head in Team Apuzzo and Team Moreno’s thrilling Sunday matchup. Team Apuzzo bounced back from a five-point deficit to claim a narrow 10-9 victory in the first match of Sunday’s AU doubleheader.

Lauren Gilbert played hero for Team Apuzzo, scoring the game-winner with 2:45 left on the clock. Dempsey Arsenault earned MVP 1 honors following the comeback win after logging four goals and an assist. Apuzzo was awarded MVP 2 recognition for her offensive performance, logging two goals and three assists.

Moreno put on a dominant performance in her team’s loss, making 13 saves in the narrow defeat. The goalkeeper showed why she still tops leads the league’s leaderboard.

In Sunday’s other matchup, Team Johansen topped Team Colson 7-4 to secure a Week 3 3-0 record. Team Johansen was led by a stellar defensive effort from Courtney Taylor, who earned MVP 1 honors for her four caused turnovers, two ground balls and two draw controls.

Waters also bolstered the squad’s defense, recording nine saves to claim an MVP 3 shout. In net for Team Colson, Glynn also shined, claiming MVP 2 accolades for her 10 saves in her side’s loss.

Week 4 competition kicks off Thursday with a matchup between Team Johansen and Team Apuzzo. Team Moreno and Team Glynn also will go head-to-head.