Four Quarters: Blowouts Galore (WUL Week 4, PUL Week 1)

Both leagues were in action for the first time this season, resulting in a bevy of beatdowns as championship contenders sought to establish themselves

April 10, 2026 by Emilia Scheemaker in Preview, Recap

Last week in the semi-pro landscape was categorized by two blowouts and two comfortable wins, as early contenders for championship weekend in Philadelphia and Raleigh made statements on the road to open the PUL’s 2026 season, while Seattle set the league record for goals scored to kickoff Utah’s double header weekend. We’ve got all this and more — including a preview of next week’s PUL championship rematch — in this week’s edition of Four Quarters!

1st Quarter: PUL Opening Week

 

Philadelphia Surge 23 – 6 Nashville Nightshade

Philadelphia opened their season with a trip down to Nashville to face off against one of the oldest clubs in the league, putting the Nightshade to bed 23-6. This is not the opener that Nashville needed. Nashville has struggled to move out of the lower end of the league for a few years. With major losses to their roster this year (two of their top three goals scorers in Tori Taylor (to Soul) and Becca Henley, as well as Elizabeth Wu (to Torch)), it’s going to take a real shift to climb the ladder. It’s worth noting here that Rebecca Fagan didn’t let this game go down without a fight, notching four blocks for the Nightshade. But Nashville only put in one break to Surge’s 23, an echo of last season when Nashville was bottom of the league in break scores. This team needs to swing from athletic moments of brilliance to something with consistency. It’s a tough early season blow to the Nashville Nightshade, and that point differential is going to dog them for the rest of this 2026 season.

Surge took home this game without much trouble. With such a difference in scores, it’s no surprise that Philadelphia players rocketed to the top of the league leaderboards for 2026, albeit after only one week of play. Rachel Alfano leads the league with five goals, while Lindsay McKenna and Chelsea Semper top to boars with four assists apiece. Rookie Fay Epstein is leading in blocks, after getting six blocks in their first PUL game. This was a good early workout for a club that is looking at taking a leap to bigger and better things. Surge doesn’t take to the field again until Week 3 (April 18-19) where they’ll take on Minnesota Strike. That game is sure to give Surge the early season litmus test they need to know if they’re ready to move up, or if they’ll once again be chasing the top.

Raleigh Radiance 15 – 8 Austin Torch

Raleigh Radiance took control in their opener against Austin Torch, winning the match 15-8. Jenny Wei led the way for Radiance, putting up a perfect +8 with four goals, three assists, and one block to no turnovers. Mary Rippe and Audrey Lyman were close behind with three goals and three assists respectively. Radiance displayed their usual brand of disciplined defense and patient movement up the field, putting together 16 blocks in their opener. It was the kind of performance we’ve come to expect from the 2025 runner-up, execution without frills.

Torch standout Madi Cannon has leveled up her game this season, already exceeding her 2025 block total with three to go along with two goals and one assist. On a roster that functions like a team effort, few players had more than one mark to add to the stats column. Jaime Estes and Sanja Royall were the only other players who were able to jot down a goal, an assist, and a block. Though Torch and Radiance stayed dead even on holds, but Raleigh pulled away on breaks and conversions. It was a good start for Torch against a tough opponent. If they can build momentum and runs, they’ll be pushing up into the messy middle of this PUL league.

2nd Quarter: Utah’s Back-to-Back

Seattle Stomping

Week 4 on the West Coast brought us a Utah Wild road trip. The match against Seattle Tempest exemplified the gap between the top of the league and the bottom, with Utah only putting together 10 points to Seattle’s 37. Seattle held Utah to just two goals in the entire second half while setting the most points ever scored in a single game in WUL history. Meg Manning and Jaime Kauffman topped the stats for Seattle, scoring five goals and four goals respectively. Seattle was able to generate 27 blocks and 37 break opportunities, 26 of which they converted on.

That’s not to say Utah was giving it away. The Wild had a relatively good completion rate (above 80%), but over twice the number of turnovers, and weren’t able to generate the blocks (7) and conversions (0/4!) to match the Tempest.

Oregon Soars at Home

Not to be deterred, Utah went on to play Oregon Soar. Though this contest was much closer, with Utah scoring 12 to Oregon’s 19 points, it marked Oregon’s largest win margin yet and first win at home, putting some confidence behind their momentum. But it wasn’t all bad for the Utah Wild. They came out slow in the first quarter, digging a four-goal hole, but were able to hang together in the second and fourth quarters. Some adjustments at the beginning of the game could give them tighter margins. These two teams were neck and neck on hold and clean holds, 11 holds and 6 clean holds apiece, and both displayed poor red zone efficiency.

But like Seattle the day before, where Oregon pulled away was in blocks, notching three times as many to generate 22 break opportunities to the Wild’s nine. There are clear areas for Utah Wild to pick up the pieces. They need to come out hot, generate blocks, and simplify their red zone to put discs in the back of the net. With 7 weeks left in the season and half their games to play, the Wild have time to make adjustments.

3rd Quarter: Meet the Match Makers

Rachel Egan (Soar) – Receiving Player of the Week honors in Week 4 is Rachel Egan. In the Oregon Soar game against Utah Wild, Egan topped not only the charts for her team, but for the league. With a 2G/6A/4B weekend, the Soar captain now sits second overall in blocks, third in goals, and fourth in receiving yards. For the league. Perhaps even more impressive, she did it all without a turnover. It’s the kind of focus and execution you expect in a captain.

Meg Manning (Tempest) – We can’t skip talking about how Meg Manning showed out this weekend and put on an absolute clinic. Pulling in five goals, five assists, and three blocks, and a stall, it’s no wonder she topped the stats for Seattle Tempest. The margin put up on Utah was historic, and Manning left it all on the field.

Jamie Kauffman (Tempest) – Not to be outdone, Jaime Kauffman was on Manning’s heels with four goals, four assists, and four blocks of her own. These two players made up a quarter of Seattle’s scores and assists this past weekend. They also knocked down a quarter of the team’s blocks. With just half a turn on the season, Kauffman leads the league in plus minus. It’s an impressive performance, no matter what sideline you’re standing on.

Eva Bell (Wild) – The Wild didn’t have the best weekend on their road trip, but it’s not because they didn’t have performers. Eva Bell was consistently in the pocket when her team needed her to be. She was dealing out assists (five on the weekend) and bringing in nearly a third of her team’s blocks. It can be hard to stand out when the team around you isn’t clicking, but Bell set the example. She now leads the league in throwing and total yards.

Beejee Kratzer (Wild) – Beejee Kratzer ran down more receiving yards than any other Wild player this weekend. Managing to get open in tight spaces even against teams out-pacing hers, Kratzer made plays, ending the weekend with three goals and 388 receiving yards. Consistency in motion won’t dig this Wild team out of their 0-3 hole, but it’s where the momentum starts.

Honorable mention goes to each league’s stats site for giving us data to dive deep on players. The WUL has had a robust stats website running for a few years, while the PUL launched their own stats site with the start of the 2026 season.

4th Quarter: Weekend Preview

WUL Week 5

Week 5 brings out a pair of road trips as both Seattle and Arizona load up the busses. Arizona will head out to play San Diego and LA Astra. Sitting in third in the South Conference, it will be important for Arizona to put up a win this weekend if they want to push themselves into the middle of the pack. With LA and Arizona so close in the rankings, it should be a good chance for both programs to highlight the strategies that will settle into place for the rest of the season.

Not content with their 26-point win last week, Seattle Wild will rematch Utah Wild. With the routing they handed out last weekend, expect Utah to play one of two ways. Either they get angry and come out blazing, or they let the game roll over them. With a tough loss last weekend, it’s easy to go either way, but championships are rarely contested by teams without heart. Here’s hoping Utah finds theirs.

A Seattle Spotlight

The spotlight game of the week will be the Seattle Tempest at Colorado Alpenglow game. Seattle should come to the game riding high on their historic weekend. But with Ari Nelson, Abby Thorpe, and Kennedy McCarthy in the lineup, Alpenglow know how to hang at the top of the league. At home and not on the second day of a back-to-back, expect a closer game than Alpenglow’s 23-14 loss to the Tempest in week 2. This will be one fight that won’t go down easy, as Colorado knows they need to at least split the season series with Seattle to have  a chance at controlling the Northwest Conference. It’s a chance to make a statement. Which of these programs is ready to play big games and come out ahead when the pressure is on?

PUL Week 2

A Championship Rematch

This weekend marks DC Shadow’s debut, and the matchup we’re all craving. In their first outing for the 2026 season, DC will make the trip to North Carolina to head up a rematch of the 2025 Championship match. DC finished last season with an impressive 6-0 season, and their win over Raleigh in Championship Weekend final was won in a dramatic double overtime. Between the two teams, the final score was DC 18, Raleigh 17.

The defending champs built their 2025 title run on suffocating defensive rotations and late-game composure. They’re comfortable absorbing pressure early, trusting their depth and conditioning to tilt games in the second half. Expect physical handler defense, disciplined downfield switches, and a willingness to force high-stall throws rather than chase blocks.

Raleigh meanwhile, has live reps under their collective belts. This will be their second game of the season, coming off a confidence-building road victory. These players should have their rotations smoothed out and be ready to play hungry. If they can push tempo before DC’s defense fully settles, they’ll create the kind of early separation that forces Shadow out of their comfort zone.

Expect this game to come down to the wire, with highlight plays throughout.

North Division Pecking Order

The Indy Red and Milwaukee Monarchs will both play their first games of the season this weekend. Expect this game to be quick and technical. One of last year’s North Division representatives at Championship Weekend, Indy Red isn’t known for giving away the game. They’ve developed a quick handler set that moves the disc and keeps repositioning the game to their advantage. Milwaukee, meanwhile, is known for a flash of brilliant athleticism to accent their game. This game will be a chess match in motion, a real technical show down.

Indy took this game running away last season, winning 26-16 at home in the Monarchs’ largest loss of the season. If Red can gain momentum early, and put together a few runs, they’ll ease into the season like they never left and make an early statement about their Championship Weekend bonafides.

WUL Power Rankings

• Seattle’s dominant wins push them above a Bay Area team who won’t take the field again until week 6

PUL Power Rankings