Written by Noam Gumerman
WUL Lead Writer
It’s a full Saturday of action for Week 3 of WUL action. First, Colorado Alpenglow travel north looking to continue their title defense 2-0 against an Oregon Soar team hosting their first-ever home game. Next, San Diego Super Bloom make their way to Utah to face off against the Wild in just the third-ever matchup between these two teams, with the last one coming back in 2023 at Championship Weekend. And finally, a resurgent Seattle Tempest head south to face off against the Bay Area Falcons, a team that was flying high in Week 2. Here’s what you need to know:
Colorado Alpenglow @ Oregon Soar
The newest team in the league hosts the defending champs to kick off Week 3 action. We last saw Alpenglow in Week 1, where they jumped out to a quick first-quarter lead in their 2024 title rematch against Utah, then maintained that lead on their way to a convincing win.Their defense looked a level up from where it was throughout the 2024 regular season, and their offense was its typical explosive self that we’ve come to expect from Alpenglow. If the offense keeps humming like it has over the last year, they will be hard to stop.
For Oregon, they have an opportunity to match the intensity of an established powerhouse, a feat they couldn’t quite manage last week against Seattle. There were periods of success for Oregon, breaking twice to start the second half, and earning multiple chances at a third in a row. Late in the game, however, they struggled to find success against Seattle’s poachy and zone looks. How they handle the start of the game and any non-person defense (which Colorado already has played in Week 1) will be deciding factors for Oregon’s success.
Seattle Tempest @ Bay Area Falcons
Week 2’s winners face off immediately in Week 3, and both Bay Area and Seattle showed a lot to like during their convincing season-opening wins. They were similar games too, with each team using a dominant stretch of play or two to put the game far out of reach from their opponents. Bay Area ended the first half on a 9-2 run to take a six-goal lead into halftime, which never got closer than five in the second half, while Seattle ended the game on an 11-1 run, including shutting Oregon out in the fourth quarter. Both of these teams showed they have a switch they can flip that separates them from teams that lack the depth and experience up and down the roster than both Tempest and Falcons have in spades.
One team will come out of this game with the potential to be top of the league standings early in the 2025 season, while the other will have to stew on this loss for a month until these teams finish their season series against each other in a month. Last week, Seattle looked incredibly comfortable in their gusty conditions at home, able to navigate windy conditions with a complete suffocating team effort on defense. Can they replicate that on the road, against 2024’s best regular season team that looks like they’ve only gotten better?
San Diego Super Bloom @ Utah Wild
Both San Diego and Utah had byes in Week 2, which means we’ll get a clear look at whose extra week of preparation paid off the most. San Diego went into their break on the heels of a big season-opening win against Arizona that saw them back to their usual selves: the most consistent regular season team in the league over the last four years led by a core of some of the best players in the world. Utah, on the other hand, failed to avenge a Championship Game loss to Colorado in their opener and went into the break needing to build more chemistry on their roster of multiple rookies. They are dealing with more roster turnover than league-average, and they will need people to step into playmaker roles if they want to make another deep postseason run in 2025.
Their biggest challenge this week will be finding ways to slow down and contain San Diego’s stars… something no one else has fully figured out yet. San Diego may not give Utah as many chances to break as Colorado’s huck-happy offense, so the Wild will need to be more efficient with their offense on break opportunities (the Wild only converted 2/16 break opportunities in Week 1). For San Diego, the name of the game is continuing to integrate the new pieces that are carrying a heavy load, and to engage as much of the team as possible so they can practice playing sustainable, winning ultimate that will last beyond just the regular season.