WUL Update: Four Quarters for Weeks 5 and 6

Taking stock of the league at midseason

May 1, 2025 by Emilia Scheemaker in Recap

Recently we split the WUL and PUL Updates into separate articles, with each covering the last two weeks of action. And we are introducing a new format: Four Quarters. We’ll highlight four things that caught our eye or got our brains going from around the league, catch you up on the games and news you may have missed, and update our Power Rankings.

Let us know what you think!

First Quarter: Halfway Haves and Have-Nots

Here are our standings halfway through the season:

The contenders for Championship Weekend are starting to take shape. Let’s take a look at who’s in and who’s out.

Starting at the bottom, the Sidewinders are out. They have two games left this season (Colorado and Utah) and it’s unlikely that they pull out either. There’s a chance Arizona takes a swipe at Utah, but the Wild squad has been more consistent overall. Prediction: This Arizona teams ends the season 0-6.

Utah Wild has two games left: the Sidewinders, and the Falcons. This team’s record doesn’t reflect what they’re capable of. They usually deliver a solid first half before falling away. Prediction: Utah Wild takes the win over the Sidewinders, but falls to the Falcons to end the season 1-5.

Oregon Soar have three games left and they’ve been improving every time they hit the field. They’ll face Bay Area Falcons in Week 7 and that rematch might be the most interesting game they play all season. They’ll have a chance to redeem themselves for letting Bay Area run up five unanswered goals in the second period in their first contest. They seemed to find their stride again in the fourth quarter against the Falcons, and could score a big win if they bring that energy. Their other games are against Super Bloom in Week 8 and Seattle Tempest in Week 9. Prediction: It’s hard to beat the same team twice, Soar takes home the second game against the Falcons, but can’t play up to Tempest and Super Bloom ending the season 1-5.

Bay Area Falcons are on the bubble. It is a less-than-ideal position to be in, but four teams go to Championship Weekend. The Falcons, despite being smack dab in the middle of the rankings, are going to make it. This team is going to need to step it up if they want do any damage on Championship Weekend. That means pulling out wins against Seattle Tempest, Oregon Soar, and Utah Wild to prove to themselves they belong to be there. That will be a tall order for their road trip in Week 7 where they take on Tempest and Soar back to back. Prediction: The Falcons drop the rematch against Oregon Soar and take home wins on Tempest and the Wild, finishing the season 4-2.

Seattle Tempest dropped their first game in Week 6. In a tight, technical fight, they fell by one point to San Diego Super Bloom. But if they had to lose to someone, it might as well have been the league leaders. To do one better, they pulled Super Bloom’s point differential down just enough to drag the San Diego squad into second place. It doesn’t have any bearing on Championship Weekend, but it probably feels good. Seattle has two games left this season against Bay Area and then Oregon. They should breeze through those games as they start planning their weekend getaway to the Bay. Prediction: Tempest cleans up the final two games, ending the season 5-1.

San Diego Super Bloom has lost the lead (by point diff) now, and they have their hardest game ahead of them. San Diego will face Colorado (and Oregon) in the final weeks of the season. They’ll need to shut down the weapons Alpenglow has been charging up if they want to win. Their Champ Weekend seed is the focus now. They can either draw the team they just barely beat in Week 6, Seattle Tempest, or they can test their mettle against a team they haven’t seen yet in the Bay Area Falcons. Prediction: They’ll end the season 6-0, but those will be hard fought wins.

Colorado Alpenglow settles in at the top of the pack after their win on Utah Wild. They have two games left this season and some time to prepare. In Week 8, Colorado will face the Arizona Sidewinders squad. Week 9 will see them facing off with San Diego Super Bloom in what is sure to be an interesting game between the two front runners. Prediction: Expect Alpenglow to bring better offensive weapons to the last game of the season, but get smothered by the Super Bloom defense. They’ll have the altitude on their side and it might be just the edge they need to pull the game out. Still, Alpenglow drops the game to Super Bloom, ending the season 5-1.

Second Quarter: Finally the Titans Meet

The top of the leaderboard has been feeling a little crowded this season with three teams holding up clean records. That was until this past weekend when San Diego Super Bloom and Seattle Tempest came together. Super Bloom left with the 16-15 overtime win, but not entirely unscathed as they slip to second behind Colorado Alpenglow by point differential.

Late game heroics came into play for San Diego in the win. With no time left on the clock in regulation on the game’s final possession, Dena Elimelech lofted a forehand huck to Avery Jones. It carried over Jones’ head and Emily Decker swooped in as a help defender. Both players came down with their hands closed on the disc, but it was ruled Jones was first to get there, forcing overtime. After a Super Bloom break to open overtime, they received at 15-15 with under a minute to go. They moved to the red zone, and seemingly turned it over, but a sideline timeout with :02 left saved them. Out of the timeout, San Diego confused Tempest with their short zipper-like vert stack play, and Seattle left Kelli Iwamoto wide open to catch a flip from Rebecca Ellis to win the game at the buzzer.

This was a tight game, with the stats practically mirroring each other. Seattle had one more break opportunity and San Diego had one more hold (and two more clean holds). The teams were nearly identical in Red Zone Efficiency and Completion Percentage. Seattle had three more blocks than San Diego, but Super Bloom completed three more hucks. All that is to say: this was a hard fought technical game where discipline on the field was more important than any one player.

On the San Diego side, Alex Diaz took to the field for the first time this season and made a show of exactly why they were on the roster. Diaz took down two goals and an assist in the first half. Kaitlyn Weaver led the team in both blocks and receiving yards, but it was Avery Jones who led the team in throwing yards and three cool assists. All three were fixtures during the tense late game play. Super Bloom’s handlers really had to sharpen up for this game, often throwing into tight windows and making decisions early to avoid a well coordinated zone. San Diego’s own zone was exactly the kind of lock down team defense we’ve come to expect from them.

Seattle Tempest relied heavily on Cheryl Hsu to anchor their backfield and Hsu had a great game. She seems to thrive under pressure, finding new gears for each challenge. Hsu, Drea Baroma, and Julia Hasbrock led the way in points during the first half of the game. Lauren Page paced the team in receiving yards, with four goals to boot. Sadie Jezierski took home the accolade for throwing yards (and 4 assists). Jezierski’s savvy play also helped her bait and follow through on five blocks.

The outcome of this game doesn’t much effect how these teams will match up come Championship Weekend, but it will get their gears turning for how they’re going to attack their next match up. Tempest will take the field this weekend at home against the Bay Area Falcons. Super Bloom will take a break to prepare for a visit from Oregon Soar.

Third Quarter: A Tail Wind for the Falcons over Oregon Soar

With the San Diego vs. Arizona game going to chalk (20-12), it’s easy to focus in on the Bay Area’s 15-12 win over Oregon. While the outcome wasn’t surprising, how they got there was. The game was tied up at the end of the first quarter, 4-4. But when the second quarter started, the Falcons went on a five goal streak before Soar found an answer. Although Soar tried to battle back in the fourth quarter, the game was all but decided.

The Falcons second period run defined the game. It was Meeri Chang, Eliza Chang, Robyn Fennig, and Lily Steponaitis who drove the scoring during the first two quarters. And Han Chen, who continues to shred defenses with a combination of quick, sharp decisions from the handler space, and the speed to take advantage downfield. As we head into the end of the season, and towards the newly announced All Star Game, these players are making a strong argument for themselves.

Oregon Soar battled back in the last quarter, but were unable to catch the Falcons. They tallied more blocks and more break opportunities than their opponents, but didn’t convert. The gritty attitude this team needed to hang in the game came from Jackie Riley, who not only broke the Falcon’s streak in the second period, but led the team in receiving yards with three goals to top it off. When the team was flagging, it was Riley who brought the heat. They were joined on the leader board by Clea Poklemba and Rachel Egan, who led the team in passing yards and defensive points respectively.

They will have a chance to run back the clock and take a whack at a different outcome this weekend. The Bay Area Falcons will go on a road trip to play first Seattle Tempest and then Oregon Soar.

Fourth Quarter: Our Favorite Plays

Really beautiful inside throw from Jamie Eriksson downfield. It might not have connected with the intended receiver, but Lauren Page was heads up enough to go and get it. There’s no doubt Page had fun pulling this down and rightly so.

Han Chen has been the calm in the storm for Bay Area, but this game Chen took the opportunity to stand firmly in the spotlight. First, a great read to pick up a D. Then, no hesitation before heading straight to the endzone for a score.

Matchup Notes

Week 5

• San Diego 20-12 Arizona: The Super Bloom opened the game strong and closed it strong, outscoring Arizona 13-6 in those two frames. San Diego’s offense scored with clean holds on 11 of their goals and didn’t surrender a single break. Arizona went 0/8 on break chances and were particularly plagued by red zone errors.

 Week 6

• Colorado 18-15 Utah: Utah put forth a strong effort, forcing the most turns from the Alpenglow anybody has this season. But Colorado’s second quarter dominance gave them a lead they held to the rest of the way. It was another standout game for the duo of Abby Thorpe and Ari Nelson, combining for 852 yards, two goals, seven assists, and a block.

WUL Power Rankings