On Sunday, Ally Kennedy and Taylor Moreno met as adversaries on the lacrosse field. Not for the first time and probably not the last.
Team Kennedy defeated Team Moreno, 15-8, in the penultimate game of the Athletes Unlimited season at USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks — which was cause for a little celebration.
“That was the first time I had ever beaten Taylor in a lacrosse game,” said Kennedy, a midfielder.
“And you beat me bad, too,” replied Moreno, a goalkeeper.
The good-natured back and forth was notable because not only are Kennedy and Moreno friends, but they are also a couple. And because of Athletes Unlimited fantasy-style format, which entails four teams being drafted each week during the four-week regular season, Kennedy and Moreno could find themselves as teammates or opponents — the latter of which can make things a bit awkward.
“I wanted to be happy for myself, but I didn’t feel good that she wasn’t having a good game and that her team wasn’t doing well,” acknowledged Kennedy, who amassed one goal, three assists, three draw controls, one ground ball and one caused turnover in her team’s victory. “So there’s this super fine line that is so hard to navigate, and I’m just lucky that she is the person who she is and that we get to do it together.”
Added Moreno, who made five saves while surrendering 11 goals: “That was a dynamic that both of us had to navigate for the first time because you want to support each other and you want to play on the same team. But at the same time, you have to lead your own team, and if that means going up against each other, it was such a unique situation. But I think it only made our relationship stronger and our performances on the field stronger.”
Although the pair grew up on New York’s Long Island separated by about 30 minutes, Kennedy and Moreno didn’t get to know each other until the summer of 2016, when they participated in an Under Armour tournament at Towson. They struck a friendship on similarities such as living on streets with the same name (Nassau) and having fathers named Mike.
Kennedy, who is three months older, enrolled at Stony Brook, while Moreno committed to North Carolina. They didn’t clash until 2021, when Moreno and the Tar Heels defeated Kennedy and the Seawolves in the season opener and the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.
In one of the games, Kennedy was fouled and landed in North Carolina’s crease, where Moreno said hello to her. Kennedy, who missed the ensuing free-position shot, suggested Moreno’s greeting was an attempt to unsettle her.
“I think that was a bit of a tactic,” Kennedy said. “She got to me.”
Not so, according to Moreno. “I just knew that was going to be my only opportunity to get her attention and be like, ‘Hey, haven’t seen you in a while. Welcome to Chapel Hill,’” she said.
During the 2022 Athletes Unlimited season, Kennedy and Moreno grew close. Alarmed that she might not see Moreno again, Kennedy revealed her feelings for Moreno, who reciprocated.
“I’ve never wanted to spend more time around a person than I do with Taylor,” Kennedy said. “I just want to spend every waking moment with her. So it was definitely a little shocking for me to come to that realization, but I got over it quick.”
Said Moreno: “It definitely caught me off guard because having known Ally and having grown up with her, I would have never expected there to be that connection — at least from the romantic perspective. I think I was pleasantly surprised, but I was also shocked to realize that I truly had those feelings as well.”
Moreno, who reigned as Athletes Unlimited champion in 2022 and 2023, was usually one of the four team captains who got the honor of selecting their teams. There was an unspoken policy during drafts.
“I think generally it was pretty much known that if Ally Kennedy was on the board, Taylor was going to get her,” said defender Caroline Wakefield, who played four years with Moreno at North Carolina.
This summer, Kennedy joined Moreno as one of the four captains in the last half of the season, which meant they met as rivals. On the strength of Moreno’s 11 saves, Team Moreno defeated Team Kennedy, 7-6, on Aug. 1 despite Kennedy’s two goals, three ground balls, three draw controls and two caused turnovers. Then Team Kennedy turned the tables on Team Moreno Sunday.
The pair acknowledged feeling a certain satisfaction when one gets the better of the other.
“I do because she’s really hard to score against,” Kennedy said. “Only on Sunday, I felt bad. But usually when I play her, I’m losing. So I’m like, ‘I need to score.’”
Moreno said she gets a thrill if she stops Kennedy on a fast break. “If I can steal one of those, I can check that off the list,” she said.
Kennedy and Moreno — who live together in Columbus, Ohio, as the former is an assistant coach at Ohio State — are nearly as inseparable during the lacrosse season, which makes for a lot of fun, according to Wakefield.
“They definitely make each other better,” she said. “I would say that Ally is more upbeat when Taylor is around, and I think Taylor’s comfort level is high when Ally is around. … It’s weird hanging out with one without the other.”
The term “power couple” has been used to refer to Kennedy and Moreno, who welcome the title.
“I think it’s appropriate,” Moreno said. “You’ve got a two-time AU champion and a top-four medalist sitting in the same car. I feel like with the both of us, it’s such a special moment for us to continue to prove that we’re both powerful on the field and powerful as a couple.”