National Team tryouts will have strong Boston College flavor

Dempsey Arsenault of Boston College is introduced ahead of the D-1 national championship game in 2017. (Getty Images)

A dozen players with ties to the region have garnered invites to the official tryout for the U.S. team that will represent the country in the 2021 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship.

The full list of 50 candidates was announced Monday by US Lacrosse.

The world championship will take place July 7-17 at Towson (Md.) University, marking the first time the event has been held in the United States since 2005.

The U.S. team tryouts will be held at US Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md., from Dec. 4-6, under the eye of North Carolina coach Jenny Levy.

Included in the tryouts are 10 players who helped the U.S. win the 2017 world championship in Guildford, England, including former Syracuse standout Becca Block (Stratham, N.H.).

The tryout list also includes five players from the two most recent U.S. Under-19 national teams, including University of Richmond standout Sophia DiCenso (Foxboro, Mass.). Notre Dame sophomore Madison Ahern (Cohasset, Mass.), also an invitee, was a member of the Under-19 training team.

Five of the players on the tryout list have strong connections to Boston College, including recent graduates Sam Apuzzo, Dempsey Arsenault (New Hampton, N.H.) and Kenzie Kent (Norwell, Mass.). During their time at BC, the Eagles reached three consecutive national championship games from 2017-19.

Apuzzo is a two-time Tewaaraton Award finalist who won the award in 2018. She is the all-time leader at BC in points (390), goals (278) and draw controls (444). She is also a two-time ACC and IWLCA Player of the Year.

Arsenault, a balanced threat both offensively and defensively, ranks in the top-10 in program history for career points (215), goals (142), assists (73), ground balls (164) and draw controls (283). She was a Tewaaraton Award finalist in 2019.

Kent is tied for fourth all-time in points with 255 and is the program leader with 131 assists. A two-sport standout, Kent was a top-five pick in both the WPLL draft and NWHL draft.

The three will be joined by BC senior Charlotte North and current assistant coach Kayla Treanor, the former Syracuse great.

UMass will be represented by junior midfielder Amy Moreau, who started all five games for the Minutewomen during a shortened 2020 season, finishing the year with 13 draw controls, eight groundballs and four caused turnovers.

Two area players with University of North Carolina ties are on the tryout list: former standout goalie Caylee Waters (Darien, Conn.) and senior defender Emma Trenchard (Windsor, Conn.).

Denver fifth-year senior defender Molly Little (Tiverton, R.I.) is also in the mix. The former Tabor Academy standout was an All-Big East player in 2019, and was selected to preseason Big East and third-team All-America teams prior to this past season, as well as the watch list for the Tewaaraton Award.

The United States has won the last three World Lacrosse championships (2009, 2013 and 2017) and has won a record eight World Cups since the championship was first contested in Nottingham, England in 1982.

A record 30 nations are expected to compete in the 2021 world championship.

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