The players competing for the 2024 WUL Championship
January 24, 2024 by Keith Raynor and Jenna Weiner in News with 0 comments
Following close behind the 2024 Western Ultimate League’s schedule announcement, all six teams in the league have now released their 2024 rosters. Below, we’ve collected all six and provided some notes on the key changes from a season ago. Will Seattle Tempest claim the title for a third year running, or will a new team take home the crown this year?
Northwest Conference
Seattle Tempest
Key Additions: Emily Decker, Nada Tramonte, Alexa Romersa, Charlie Eide, Ada Wright, Greta Eisenbrey, Kate Lanier, Carly Campana
Key Losses: Jennifer Ricaurte, Steph Phillips, Abby Hecko, Lexi Garrity, Frances Gellert, Hana Kawai, Jamie Eriksson, Leah Bar-On Simmons, Linnea Soo, Rachel Bradshaw, Abbie Abramovich, Ari Lozano
After winning their second straight WUL title, Seattle Tempest return only 12 players from their 2023 championship squad, though it’s not all doom and gloom for the reigning champs. Kate Lanier, Carly Campana, and Ada Wright bring ready-made chemistry from their days playing together at Carleton, while Nada Tramonte and Greta Eisenbrey are plug-and-play veterans who should make an instant impact for Tempest. It’s going to be tough for Seattle to replace the production of three of their four top goal scorers and two of their three top block-getters, but this squad is plenty good enough to make a run for a three-peat.
Utah Wild
Key Additions: Sarah Judd, Justine, Stacy Gaskill
Key Losses: Cori Bigham, Molly Robbins, Jen Cogburn, Madeleine Hunter
The Wild have one of the league’s most exciting new players in Stacy Gaskill, an All-American at Colorado who is a fantastic puller and deep defender, making her a defensive anchor. There’s hype around the premier of Justine, Sarah Judd brings PUL experience to the table, and a youngster like Abbie Davis could take big steps forward. But Utah did lose multiple starters. Jen Cogburn and Cori Bigham were both productive cutters for the 2023 offense, while Molly Robbins led their D-line in receiving yards. That production will be tough to replace if the Wild want to have a bounce-back year.
Colorado Alpenglow
Key Additions: Blaise Sevier, Bailey Shigley, Allysha Dixon, Hayley Banas, Ari Nelson
Key Losses: Shayna Brock, Liz Murphy, Betsy Basch
There’s a case that no team has more impactful additions in total than Colorado, who add players of all different stripes for the Alpenglow’s sophomore campaign. Veterans like Allysha Dixon and Sarah Levinn, young stars like Blaise Sevier and Bailey Shigley, cutters, handlers, defenders, this new cohort has it all. They add in this diverse set of skills and experience to essentially their entire core, and now the whole organization — from the front office to the field — is going to have a much better sense of the season. It could be a big step forward for Alpenglow.
Southwest Conference
San Diego Super Bloom
Key Additions: Abbi Shilts (former practice player), Merideth Byl
Key Losses: Blair Messner, Penny Wu, Brittany Cabriales
There’s not a ton of change for San Diego and continuity is good when you had one of the league’s most feared rosters. The Super Bloom return their top six players in yardage from 2023 and all their leaders in points played. While Blair Messner was a breakout last year and the team is losing some key defenders, Meredith Byl is a great pickup from Los Angeles, tallying 14 goals and 14 blocks playing on the Astra D-line last season.
Bay Area Falcons
Key Additions: Calise Cardenas, Kanari Imanishi, Margo Urheim, Margo Donahue, Elsa Winslow, Han Chen (returning), Sharon Lin (returning)
Key Losses: Amy Broome, Mila Flowerman, Rachel Clarkson, Gina Schumacher (Practice player), Jaclyn Wataoka (Practice player), Malina Wiebe (Practice player)
2024 brings a new name and a new look for the Falcons, with four players rejoining from the 2022 Bay Area roster and eight brand new additions. Han Chen and Sharon Lin are the highlight names from the returning quartet, while a pair of same-named Callahan finalists in Margo Urheim (2020) and Margo Donahue (2023) are first-rate first year adds to this more veteran Falcons team. The only downside to all the newness, of course, is the unavailability of some the Bay Area’s best players from last year. However, with both 2023 leading goal scorer Malina Wiebe and 2023 yardage leader Gina Schumacher recently becoming new mothers, even their move to the practice squad comes with an exciting silver lining for the team.
Arizona Sidewinders
Key Additions: Maggie O’Connor, Sophie Havranek, LP Aragon (returning)
Key Losses: Veronica Kolegue-Spalaris, Melissa Merrick
The Sidewinders juiced up their backfield this offseason, adding Maggie O’Connor and bringing back LP Aragon after a season away. O’Connor was one of sixteen players to eclipse 2,000 total yards last year, while Aragon was a key handler in 2022. That should make life easier for team’s pair of 2K Club members, fellow handlers Chip Chang and Paige Applegate. KSpa, an O-line regular who put up 19 combined goals and assists in 2023, will leave an offensive hole to fill, but ironically, the snakes have legs to spare.
