Maryland native and former Terps women’s lacrosse star Lizzie Colson has been in action this season for Athletes Unlimited at USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md. Athletes Unlimited is a network of professional women’s sports leagues, including basketball, softball, volleyball and lacrosse.
The league is both team-based and player-based. There is a winner of each game, and the top four players for each week become new captains and draft their team for the week. The player with the most points by the end of the season is crowned the league champion. The breakdown of the individual points system can be found here. There are also cash incentives for a team to win.
Colson, who played lacrosse for the Terps from 2017-2021, started playing for the league in 2022. Through nine games this season, the defender has 860 total points (26 ground balls, 26 draw controls, 15 caused turnovers and 2 assists).
The final games of the AU Lacrosse season take place Aug. 10-13.
“They encourage us to play freely and be creative. And I think that that leaves a lot of opportunities to just grow the game and get people involved in new ways,” Colson said on Glenn Clark Radio on Aug. 2. “… And it’s a lot faster than college because a lot of things that would be called in college are allowed here because it is a professional league.”
Colson played for Maryland for five seasons, earning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week seven times and the 2021 IWLCA National Defender of the Year honor. The Terps went 78-13 during Colson’s tenure, winning national championships in 2017 and 2019. Colson also won the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship with Team USA in 2022.
Heading into the 2020 season with Maryland, Colson suffered a torn ACL while training with Team USA. She had to redshirt her senior year due to the injury and returned to College Park for a fifth year in 2021. Colson now is thankful for the injury, as it gave her a glimpse into life after lacrosse.
“Looking back, I was really lucky to have a glimpse into life post-sport, at the age of 23, and recognize that my value is not in sport and I have a lot of assets and I’m very valuable outside of sport.” Colson said. “And I think that it took a season-ending, career-threatening injury to realize that but only made me stronger and made my drive that much tougher.”
Colson believes that her competitive internal drive is what has kept her playing lacrosse after finishing her college career.
“You never really lose that competitive edge once you have it and you unlock it,” Colson said. “So I think a lot of it is just internal motivation to just keep growing and keep competing. I also think it’s a love for the sport and to continue to grow the sport. I think it’s really important to give back to the sport that’s given me so much.”
For Colson, she hopes that women’s lacrosse continues to grow across the country. Athletes Unlimited games can now be seen on ESPN2, but there is still more work to do.
“There’s just so many ways to show the game,” Colson said. “… Making sure that it continues to grow in whatever fashion whether it’s [6v6 or 10v10], I think there’s just a lot of different ways it needs to grow before it gets the attention.”
For more from Colson, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Athletes Unlimited