A pair of games to launch the WUL's 2025 season.
March 27, 2025 by Emilia Scheemaker in News
Welcome to the WUL/PUL Update, Ultiworld’s roundup for the two women’s and nonbinary semi-pro leagues. The Western Ultimate League opened their season with a pair of matchups, while we are two weekends away from the start of the Premier Ultimate League.
Colorado Takes Championship Rematch on the Road
Colorado flew out to Utah to compete in both teams’ first match of the season. The guest team opened their season with a 22-15 victory. They last met in the 2024 WUL final, a game controlled by the Alpenglow Early on both teams traded points, favoring simple vert stacks and person defense. It didn’t take long for Colorado to take control of the field running up the score to 11-6 by halftime.
The Alpenglow saw big performances from the usual suspects. Rory Veldman, Rena Kawabata, Sarah Levinn, Ari Nelson, Sarah Pesch, Sarah Itoh, and Abby Thorpe were all in the end zone for this team early and often. Nelson looked right at home in the center of the field, using their hucks to punish any loose defenders. Notably Nelson was a cool customer when it came to Utah’s zone, using the sideline force to get off some big throws downfield. Veldman was a solid presence on the field as well, knocking down the disc for three blocks and reeling in a pair of goals and compiling 426 total yards.
Both teams tested out zones during this competition, but it’s hard to say how effective either might have been if there was a little wind to help move the disc. Both teams moved to clog the middle at times, but the difference looked to be on sealing the edges and transitioning out. The Wild looked less disciplined in this first contest. Their zone was a little junkier and their person defense was looser. Colorado did not hesitate to really take advantage of those lapses. Their disc movement was a little sharper and by the second half of the game it was clear Alpenglow was waiting for the defense to lose that step and open up the field.
Utah’s Morgan Williams brought the defense up, notching three blocks early in the first half. Her presence seemed to spur a handful of other unforced errors from the Alpenglow, but the team didn’t convert all of those chances. Kat Songer, Paige Kercher, and Cori Bigham kept the Wild afloat on offense, using their chemistry, sharp decision making, and speed to punch in goals. Williams also had her hands in three different goals during the first half.
Colorado took the game in a well deserved victory. They were cleaner on offense, conceding just two breaks, although not without their errors. The real difference between these teams was the defense. Utah Wild was loose in their person defense and their zone was not as effective as it needed to be. In particular, the Utah Wild O-line needs to tighten up their defense on the turn, particularly when faced with handlers that are not going to be shaken by a zone.
These teams will meet again in Week 6 (April 26th) for a rematch. That gives them two games apiece to tighten up and determine who really should come out on top.
San Diego Deep Game Powers First Win
While many had circled the title bout rematch as the game to watch, it was Arizona and San Diego who provided the most entertainment. Both clubs looked sharp in their opener and stepped up the level of play throughout the game. But San Diego’s consistent level of play helped them pull away to win 23-14.
The game started off with a couple of very long points to feel each other out and settle into a groove. It was immediately apparent that Super Bloom was willing to put in the work on defense to stay tight and create their own chances. Their person to person defense caused a lot of problems for Arizona and there was no quit, even near the end of the game. Trapped between a swirling wind and San Diego’s lockdown D, Arizona had to adapt quickly.
Arizona started out the game playing close to the vest without too many deep looks. With an untrustworthy wind forcing everyone to score mainly in one end zone, it was a good initial game plan. But it soon became apparent that San Diego wasn’t going to hold back on the hucks, so Arizona had to either test out their own deep looks or find a faster way to convert. Both teams struggled with overthrowing receivers going downwind, but San Diego found the right touch first. They ended the game with seven completed hucks, five more than the Sidewinders. Arizona was quick to adjust to the pace of the game though, staying in touch with San Diego by a ~3-4 point margin until the end of the 3rd quarter.
The Sidewinders got some good movement out of their handlers, particularly Chip Chang and LP Aragon in their handler weave. These two anchored the offense — Aragons 525 total yards led the team, while Chang’s 347 was second — easily distributing points to Kay Powell, Brittany Stettmeier, and Erin Donahue, and even a push pass to Pisani. Aragon found themselves downfield in time to pull in a pass from Powell for a score. Arizona sharpened up with each quarter, finding pace with San Diego and trying out a zone look in the second half.
For San Diego, the strategy was relatively straight forward: They played tough as nails person defense; they ran the handler weave they were so comfortable in last year; and they took shots upwind and downwind and converted on the errors they forced. That’s not to say they didn’t have some great players making great plays. Kaela Helton and Dena Elimelech pulled down three and two points, respectively, in the first half. Helton finished the game withn a towering four goals, seven assists, three blocks, and 658 yards. Theresa Zettner had a pair of knockdown Ds in the first half. By the time this team took on the second half, they were focused on taking care of business. Rebecca Ellis threw a goal to Merideth Byl after a sequence of great movement from the team as a whole, really showing how quickly this team can step down the field when they’re on a roll.
Super Bloom carried a 12-8 lead into halftime. While the Sidewinders clearly stepped up meet the bar set by their opponents, this was Super Bloom’s game all the way through. Arizona played a really good first half, but the pace that San Diego laid down was a harsh introduction to the 2025 season for them. San Diego led the match for a 23-14 finish.
They’ll see each other again in Week 5 (April 19th) in Arizona. But first, Arizona will take on Colorado Alpenglow (April 12th) and the Bay Area Falcons (March 29th), and San Diego will face off with Utah Wild (April 12th).
