Sam Apuzzo, Dempsey Arsenault, Megan Taylor and Caitlyn Wurzburger are US Lacrosse Magazine’s finalists for Best Women’s Player of 2019.
Head over to Twitter to cast your vote and look for results in our annual Best of Lacrosse (#BestOfLax) edition coming out in December.
#BestofLax edition coming in December. Finalists for Best Women's Player of 2019:
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) October 30, 2019
Sam Apuzzo (@BCwlax / @WPLLFight)
Dempsey Arsenault (@BCwlax / @WPLLBrave)
Megan Taylor (@MarylandWLax / @WPLLFight)
Caitlyn Wurzburger (@USAWLax)
MORE: https://t.co/h4IZbkw9G2
More information on each finalist appears below.
Sam Apuzzo
Boston College/Fight
The 2018 Tewaaraton Award winner had a compelling case as a potential repeat winner. Apuzzo finished the season with 94 goals, 30 assists and 191 draw controls. She ended her career ranked fourth and seventh in NCAA Division I history with 278 goals and 390 points, respectively. Her game-winning goal in double overtime gave Boston College a 15-14 win over North Carolina in the NCAA semifinals — a game billed as one of the best in women’s lacrosse history. Apuzzo also averaged nearly four points per game (eight goals, seven assists in four games) as a rookie with the WPLL’s Fight.
Dempsey Arsenault
Boston College/Brave
Arsenault better get used to the spotlight, because the sometimes forgotten member of BC’s Big Three showed during the NCAA tournament and in her spectacular WPLL championship game performance that she has true star potential. “Best player in the world,” Brave coach Sonia Lamonica said poignantly after Arsenault scored four goals and played menacingly on defense and in the midfield to lead the Brave to a 13-12 comeback win over the Fight in the WPLL final at US Lacrosse. “I’ll make that statement.” It was in some ways a continuation of Arsenault’s senior season at BC. She led the Eagles with 44 ground balls, ranked second with 100 draw controls and third with 23 caused turnovers. She also scored 65 goals and had 27 assists.
Megan Taylor
Maryland/Fight
The first-ever goalie — male or female — to win the Tewaaraton Award had a senior season to remember. For much of it, Taylor hovered at or above 60 percent in save percentage, a threshold not reached by any qualifying Division I goalie since 2001. She turned it on again in the NCAA tournament, backstopping a stifling Maryland defense that rode her 24 saves during championship weekend to the Terps’ 14th national title.
Caitlyn Wurzburger
American Heritage/USA U19
It’s almost unfathomable that Wurzburger has another season of high school lacrosse to go before we get to see her in Carolina blue. She certainly looked plenty ready for prime time wearing USA blue, earning All-World honors while leading the U.S. to the World Lacrosse Women’s U19 World Championship title with 21 goals and 19 assists in seven games. The latter mark was a U.S. U19 record, while her 40 points were just four shy of Kristen Waagbo’s record set in 2003. Wurzburger’s performance with Team USA came on the heels of a junior season at American Heritage-Delray (Fla.) in which she topped 100 goals and 100 assists for the fourth straight year and set the national high school career scoring record. She’ll only add to her 835 career points (406 goals, 429 assists) as a senior next spring before finally landing in Chapel Hill.