Championship Weekend

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San Diego Super Bloom Wins First-Ever WUL Championship

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THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM | SAN DIEGO STRIKES GOLD AT LAST

San Diego Wins First-Ever WUL Championship

San Diego Super Bloom pose with the WUL Championship Trophy after winning their first ever gold medal finish

San Diego Super Bloom pose with the WUL Championship Trophy after earning their first ever gold medal finish. Photographer: Rodney Chen, Ultiphotos

Bay Area came out firing in front of their home crowd, jumping to a quick two-goal lead—but San Diego stayed composed. Super Bloom evened the score by the end of the first quarter and followed with a 3-point run into the second to take control. Bay battled back to stay within striking distance, but San Diego’s discipline and depth proved too much. With a final score of 12–10, Super Bloom closed out their historic title run and claimed their first WUL championship.

After falling short in 2022 and 2023, San Diego finally reached the top—led by standout performances across the board, including newly crowned league 2025 WUL MVP Kaela Helton (WUL MVP in 2022 & 2023). 

Bay Area capped off their most successful season ever with outstanding performances across the board, a second-place finish and a bright future ahead.

 

Championship Game Gallery

Photographer: Rodney Chen, Ultiphotos

See the entire gallery on Ultiphotos.com

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2025 WUL Championship Weekend: Championship Sunday Preview

Written by Noam Gumerman
WUL Lead Writer

A thrilling day of action saw San Diego Super Bloom reach their third title game with a 17-16 win over Seattle Tempest, and Bay Area Falcons reach their first with a 19-16 upset over previously undefeated Colorado Alpenglow. Catch a recap of all the action from yesterday here. Today is the grand finale. Seattle and Colorado will play for the first time all year to get us started, then San Diego and Bay Area will each play for the chance at their first title.

3rd Place: Seattle Tempest vs. Colorado Alpenglow – 12:00 p.m. PDT

The two teams that have won the first three WUL Championships are the ones relegated to the third-place game on Championship Weekend. It’s a tough ask for both of these teams to come back for one more game after losing two heartbreaking semi-finals, but given how hard both teams competed yesterday, they’ll both be more than up for the challenge. For Seattle, a win would secure a top-half finish after a truly disappointing 2024 saw them miss Championship Weekend entirely. For Colorado, a win would mean avoiding a disappointing 0-2 weekend after a 6-0 regular season, and a truly impressive display of their mentality and desire to win despite a shocking day one result.

For both of these teams, it’s one last opportunity to play alongside their 2025 squads. In all likelihood, both of these teams will have a lot of continuity going into 2026, but there will still be changes. This game is an opportunity for these players to honor the hours they spent working together and building their teams into championship contenders, even if they fell one step short.

Seattle and Colorado have yet to play in 2025, so the result could be anyone’s game. Can Colorado bounce back after a shocking loss in semi-finals? Will Seattle shut down Colorado’s offense to secure the bronze? 

Championship Game: San Diego Super Bloom vs. Bay Area Falcons – 3:00 p.m. PDT

After the incredible regular seasons and disappointing results at Championship Weekend 2024 for both teams, it was a little disappointing to not see a 2025 regular season matchup between San Diego Super Bloom and Bay Area Falcons. But the WUL always provides the drama and storylines in the end, as the Falcons will host an all-California matchup for the 2025 WUL Championship this afternoon.

“Is this finally the year?” is the question players and fans alike of both San Diego and Bay Area have been asking themselves all night after they both took their penultimate steps towards WUL glory yesterday. For Super Bloom, a win would be a storybook ending to a tale that stretches back to the first year of the league, and cap four years of regular season dominance and postseason heartbreak. While the Falcons have not been as consistently dominant for four years as Super Bloom has been, their past has plenty of regular season success and postseason disappointment (including against SD) they have a chance to erase today too.

The story all year long for Super Bloom has been how they have improved and deepened their squad from previous years. The depth around their core of Kelli Iwamoto, Dena Elimelech, and Kaela Helton is better than it’s ever been. Their defense is now their calling card, including an increased use of zone, rather than how top-heavy their roster construction felt in previous years. But Bay Area may be better equipped to handle that zone than anyone else in the league, thanks to the addition of Robyn Fennig, who shredded Colorado yesterday any time they tried to mix up defensive looks. The Falcons also roll deep, with a D-line led by standouts Han Chen and Georgia Cardosa. 

All eyes on these two super teams as they square off for the 2025 WUL Championship. Don’t miss it.


The stage is set, and the title is up for grabs—today we crown a new champion. After a shocking semi-final loss to the Bay Area Falcons, top-seeded and defending champs Colorado Alpenglow will now face Seattle Tempest in the 3rd Place Game—two powerhouse teams looking to close the weekend with a statement win. Watch the 3rd place game here.

In the Championship Game, San Diego returns to the final for the third time in franchise history, still seeking their first-ever championship. They’ll face Bay Area, who earned their first trip to the final with a massive upset in front of their home crowd.  Watch the Championship Game here.

At the end, a new team will lift the WUL trophy for the very first time.


2025 WUL Championship Weekend: Saturday Semi-Finals Recap

Written by Noam Gumerman
WUL Lead Writer

What a first day of Championship Weekend action in the Bay Area. No matter what, the WUL will crown a first time champion on Sunday. It’ll be an all-California final as San Diego Super Bloom and Bay Area Falcons will compete for the first title in program history, while Seattle Tempest and Colorado Alpenglow will battle for third place. Here’s how it all went down.

San Diego Super Bloom 17 - 16 Seattle Tempest

For the first time in their three postseason meetings, San Diego Super Bloom vanquished Seattle Tempest 17-16 to return to the Championship Game since losing to the Seattle squad in the 2023. For Super Bloom, this game was the perfect example of how this team has evolved and grown over the last two years. They won with their defense, the zone they’ve relied on all year, this time paying dividends in a gusty upwind-downwind game. Despite their stars, they won with their depth, letting players like Kaela Helton and Dena Elimelich avoid playing two-thirds of their points like they have in years past. Regular season stalwarts showed up in full force for the postseason as well, with Kristen Pojunis, Kelli Iwamoto, Rebecca Ellis, and Kaitlyn Weaver all showing out with solid performances. And because of that, Super Bloom will have their third chance to capture their first-ever WUL title tomorrow.

During the game, it was Seattle who struck first as Sadie Jezierski skied a pile of defenders to come down with the game’s first break (upwind) and a 5-4 Seattle lead. Maybe a harbinger of things to come, Tempest was unable to convert the downwind break on the next point, despite earning a turn and using a timeout to get their O-line on the field. Once we hit the second quarter though, the San Diego defense got to work. They stacked three breaks in a row to claim a two-goal lead before Seattle responded. Super Bloom held and broke again to complete a 5-1 run in the second quarter, sitting on the verge of blowing the game wide open. Super Bloom let Seattle back into the game, though, first by pulling the disc out of bounds, giving Tempest a short field which they scored from, then Super Bloom dropped the ensuing pull. When the dust settled, SD had a 10-8 halftime lead.

In the second half, Super Bloom largely picked up where they left off. A hold and a break continued their theme, and they played the role of confident, poised favorites, closing out the game despite Seattle bringing it back within one at the end. Their mixture of person and zone defenses slowed the Seattle offense for large portions of the second half. San Diego’s offense wasn’t perfect, but their O-line defense was good enough to hold Seattle until a couple of scores at the very end made the game tighter than it seemed the rest of Q4.

For Seattle, losing to San Diego for the third time in a row, and to be knocked out of championship contention has to sting. But ultimately, this season was a step in the right direction for Tempest. After a surprise down year in 2024, they bounced back with a season more reminiscent of their championship runs in years past. There is still more to work on for Tempest to return to the top of the mountain, but they’ve found their way again.


Bay Area Falcons 19 -16 Colorado Alpenglow

For the second straight year, the underdog Championship Weekend hosts have found their way into the finals, despite matching up against a team that had a much better regular-season resume. Bay Area Falcons dispatched of the previously undefeated defending champion Colorado Alpenglow 19-16 in a game they led wire-to-wire. The Falcons have a chance to make it a three-peat for the home teams at Championship Weekend tomorrow, following in the footsteps of Seattle and Colorado the last two years in their first-ever WUL final.
It was a physical, contentious game between these two teams in just their second-ever meeting. But Bay Area seized control immediately with a dominant first quarter, clearly prepared with an effective game plan to slow down Colorado’s high flying offense. Across the next three quarters of play, every time Colorado made a run and snagged a break or two, or every time the Falcons seemed to have the nerves kick in, they managed to steady themselves and score goals despite some tremendous Alpenglow pressure.

It was a huge, team-wide defensive effort from the Falcons to secure this win. Everyone other than 2024 league MVP Abby Thorpe was held in check by Bay Area. (Thorpe had the night of her career, putting up a league record 8 goals in a single game.) No one has matched up with Colorado this year the way Bay Area did in the semifinal. Additionally, the continued swap of Han Chen from O-line to D-line really helped give Bay Area’s D-line offense enough juice to put serious pressure on Colorado, who had to defend the whole field with their O-line. Splitting Chen from Robyn Fennig on offense has allowed both of Bay Area’s best handlers to control even more touches, and set both the O and D-lines up for success by utilizing their throwing prowess. And it’s worked, as both players left their mark all over this game.

The Alpenglow undefeated run finally came to an end. There will be no undefeated season in 2025, and no repeat champions. Colorado’s depth downfield – the players that turned Colorado’s high-risk, high-reward offense into a nearly unstoppable juggernaut – were held in check by excellent gameplanning from Bay Area. And while Colorado nearly just kept shooting their way back into the game on the back of ratcheting up defensive pressure, it wasn’t enough to overcome Bay Area’s impressive team defense.


The stage is set, and the title is up for grabs—today we crown a new champion. After a shocking semi-final loss to the Bay Area Falcons, top-seeded and defending champs Colorado Alpenglow will now face Seattle Tempest in the 3rd Place Game—two powerhouse teams looking to close the weekend with a statement win. Watch the 3rd place game here.

In the Championship Game, San Diego returns to the final for the third time in franchise history, still seeking their first-ever championship. They’ll face Bay Area, who earned their first trip to the final with a massive upset in front of their home crowd.  Watch the Championship Game here.

At the end, a new team will lift the WUL trophy for the very first time.


2025 WUL Championship Weekend Preview

Written by Noam Gumerman
WUL Lead Writer

It’s here! Championship Weekend is this Saturday and Sunday, June 7-8 in Oakland, California. Bay Area Falcons play host to themselves, Colorado Alpenglow, San Diego Super Bloom, Seattle Tempest – and the eyes of ultimate fans around the world. It’s been a season where the best four teams in the league have proven themselves worthy many times over, and this weekend we get to see them go head-to-head when it matters most.

Each of the four qualifiers has their own compelling story behind a possible championship. Colorado wants to repeat as WUL Champions on the heels of an undefeated season. San Diego is looking to get over the hump, finally, as the league’s most consistently solid regular season team in history, but without any 1st place trophies d to show for it. After a down year in 2024, Seattle is readyto return to their perch on top, winning a third title in four years. And the hosts, Bay Area, has eyes on the prize, ready to redeem themselves after a disappointing 2024 Championship Weekend.
It’s the best time of the WUL season. Here’s how it’s going down: 

Game Schedule:

Saturday 6/7

Semifinal 1 - 4:00 pm PDT: (2) San Diego Super Bloom vs (3) Seattle Tempest
Semifinal 2 - 7:00 pm PDT: (1) Colorado Alpenglow vs (4) Bay Area Falcons


Sunday 6/8

3rd Place - 12:00pm PDT: Loser of Semifinal 1 vs Loser of Semifinal 2
Championship Game-3:00pm PDT: Winner of Semifinal 1 vs Winner of Semifinal 2


Game Previews: 

San Diego Super Bloom vs. Seattle Tempest

San Diego and Seattle face off in the first game of the weekend, renewing the league’s biggest rivalry, and a rematch of this season’s thrilling 16-15 Week 6 overtime game. San Diego won after tying it up on a hail-mary huck after time expired in the fourth, and finally, an overtime buzzer-beater to avoid a second overtime. But Super Bloom only needed the late heroics after blowing a five-point second-half lead to Tempest. If we are treated to half the game these two teams gave us in April, we’ll be set up for an all-time Championship Weekend classic. That game was Seattle’s only loss of the season. Otherwise, they looked nearly perfect, with a resume highlighted by two wins over fellow Championship contenders, Bay Area.

This rivalry cuts deeper than just one good game earlier this year. In both Tempest’s 2022 and 2023 Championship wins, Super Bloom is the team they went through to do it in the final. For San Diego, this is an opportunity to exorcise some organizational demons, prove once and for all that this year’s team is different (despite a familiar core), and foster a sense of belief that they are destined to win it all. For Seattle, this is an opportunity to remind San Diego of who owned the first two years of the league, and why SD hasn’t won yet. It would foster a near-mythical sense of the way this program has consistently elevated its play come the postseason, and only cement to Tempest players and fans that this rivalry should be charitably described as “one-sided.”

It’ll be a special collection of talent on the field, too. Super Bloom is led by their two 2025 MVP finalists in Kaela Helton and Dena Elimelech (the WUL’s 2022 and 2023 MVP, and 2024 DPOTY winners, respectively), DPOTY finalist Kaitlyn Weaver, and 2024 MVP finalist and 2025 OPOTY finalist Kelli Iwamoto, forming a star-studded core. As has been mentioned before, the big difference from this year’s Super Bloom to previous iterations has been the way everyone has stepped up and contributed around the big stars. For Seattle, the ascension of Sadie Jezierski (2025 league leader in blocks, 2025 DPOTY finalist, and all-around menace on the field) behind the steady strength of Seattle’s deep roster has lifted Tempest back into prime contention for a title. All signs point to this game being an incredible one. Don’t miss it.

Colorado Alpenglow vs. Bay Area Falcons

In a reversal of fortunes from last year, Colorado comes into Championship Weekend undefeated since Week 9 of the 2024 regular season, and the favorite to win the 2025 WUL Championship. This year, Bay Area is the host, coming off a positive but inconsistent regular season, and looking to make some magic happen in the postseason, just as their opponents were a year ago. And Colorado will play the part of the best regular season team coming into Championship Weekend with momentum, looking to finish off an impressive record, just as Bay Area was a year ago.

What’s even more interesting is that these two teams have only played once before, back in 2023, a game that Bay Area won 15-14. Unlike our first 2025 Championship Weekend semifinal, these two teams are not very familiar with each other, having played in opposite divisions last year and not meeting this year. Falcons have not yet faced the elite downfield cutter depth that Alpenglow can roll out point after point with players like 2025 MVP finalist and 2024 MVP winner Abby Thorpe, 2025 MVP finalist Rory Veldman, 2025 BPOTY finalist Rena Kawabata, or a thrower like 2024 OPOTY winner and 2025 OPOTY finalist Ari Nelson. But the Falcons should feel confident in their defence with players like 2025 BPOTY and DPOTY finalist Georgia Cardosa to attack big matchups. Additionally, Colorado hasn’t faced a backfield with power throwers like 2025 MVP Finalist Robyn Fennig and 2024 MVP Finalist Han Chen either, who can move the disc from one side of the field to the other in an instant.

While these teams may not have the same history and knowledge of each other as the first semifinal has, there is no doubt they will be well prepared for what needs to happen in order to secure a berth in the WUL Championship Game. For Colorado, this is a chance to take one step closer towards the second undefeated season in WUL history, and the second back-to-back dynasty. For Bay Area, this is a chance to pull off an incredible upset, and set right the disappointment of last year’s team falling short so close to the finish line. The lights will be bright, it’ll be a primetime matchup with star-studded rosters, where both teams hope to continue their march towards WUL history.

Don’t miss the action over championship weekend! Grab your tickets early to claim your space in the stands, find a watch party near you or catch the action live on the WUL YouTube Channel! On Semifinals Saturday, first catch 5-1 San Diego Super Bloom taking on 5-1 Seattle Tempest; then, undefeated 6-0 Colorado Alpenglow face off against 4-2 hosts Bay Area Falcons. Then on Sunday, watch the winners play for the 2025 WUL Championship!