League News
Chip Yen earned Player of the Week honors with 5 goals, 328 receiving yards, and 4 assists in a dominant Week 7. Week 8 features a high-stakes rematch as Los Angeles Astra host San Diego Super Bloom, plus Game of the Week: Arizona vs Oregon—two rising teams looking to reshape the standings after winless 2025 seasons.
The halfway point of the 2026 WUL season has arrived—and the award races are anything but settled. From veteran frontrunners to rising rookies crashing the conversation, this year’s field is deep, dynamic, and wildly competitive.
What stands out isn’t just the numbers—it’s the variety of impact. Some players are carrying offenses. Others are flipping games with momentum-changing blocks. And a few are doing everything, everywhere, all at once.
With several weeks still to play, the margins are razor thin, the narratives are still evolving, and every possession from here on out could tilt the race.
In Week 5, Karli Steiner delivered a record-setting performance to earn Player of the Week honors, posting 7 assists and 516 throwing yards in a windy showcase while rewriting the Los Angeles Astra record book. In Week 6, San Diego Super Bloom travels to face Bay Area Falcons for a 2025 Championship Weekend rematch with Bay hunting for redemption; Oregon Soar heads north to take on Seattle Tempest in a game with heavy playoff implications.
Two one-point games. An overtime finish. The first crack in an undefeated season. The margins across the league are getting thinner—and the stakes are getting higher. Colorado Alpenglow proved they can go toe-to-toe with Seattle Tempest. Arizona Sidewinders showed resilience in a comeback overtime win. San Diego Super Bloom continued to look like a team that knows exactly how to weather pressure.
We’re nearly halfway through the 2026 WUL season, and the picture is starting to come into focus—but nothing is settled.
Seattle Tempest and San Diego Super Bloom sit at the top, setting the standard early, but the gap behind them is anything but comfortable. Colorado Alpenglow is pushing for control of the Northwest, Bay Area Falcons are gaining traction, and both Oregon Soar and Arizona Sidewinders are flipping the script after winless 2025 campaigns.
Every team still has something to prove—and with the second half looming, the pressure is only going up.
In Week 4, Rachel Egan delivered an outstanding two-way performance to earn Player of the Week honors, leading Oregon Soar with control on both sides of the disc. Across the league, early identities have emerged as teams begin to separate in the standings and point differentials. In Week 5, the schedule intensifies—Seattle Tempest and the Arizona Sidewinders hit the road for doubleheaders across three days of action, as four games from Friday through Sunday start to put real pressure on depth, endurance, and early playoff positioning.
Week 4 set a new benchmark. Seattle’s performance established a standard of execution that will challenge every opponent moving forward while Oregon demonstrated the ability to translate adjustments into results, securing a milestone win at home. Utah had a demanding doubleheader weekend on the road, but did not let their loss to Seattle define their entire weekend.
In Week 3, Caitlin Fitzgerald delivered a dominant two-way performance across Oregon’s doubleheader to earn Player of the Week honors, leading Soar to a historic first win and continuing to drive their early-season identity. Across the league, momentum began to build as teams found rhythm and separation. In Week 4, the stakes rise—a UT doubleheader and playoff positioning start to take shape as teams look to turn early flashes into consistency.
Week 3 of the 2026 WUL season delivered breakout performances and a milestone win! San Diego Super Bloom continued their strong start with a composed win over Los Angeles Astra, while Bay Area Falcons defended home turf against Arizona in a high-energy matchup.
Oregon Soar secured their first franchise win since joining the WUL in 2025, and turned around less than 24 hours later to challenge Colorado Alpenglow in a tight rematch. Across the weekend, standout individual performances and disciplined team systems have begun to separate contenders from the pack.
In Week 2, Kennedy McCarthy delivered a historic performance to earn Player of the Week honors, despite a tough road matchup in Seattle. Colorado split their Pacific Northwest doubleheader with a win over Oregon and a loss to the Tempest, while standout performances and record-setting moments defined the weekend. In Week 3, teams look to build momentum as early-season identities continue to take shape.
Opening weekend of the 2026 WUL season showcased a mix of returning dominance and evolving team identities. San Diego Super Bloom continued their championship form with a statement win over Bay Area, while Arizona Sidewinders controlled their home opener behind defensive pressure. Across all matchups, roster changes—especially in the handler space—played a major role as teams worked to establish chemistry early in the season.
The 2026 Western Ultimate League season is just days away, kicking off with a 2025 WUL Championship Game rematch between last year’s winners San Diego Super Bloom, and runners-up, Bay Area Falcons. Both teams and the league as a whole have undergone significant changes over the past nine months. Between the return of Los Angeles Astra (and with them, an eight-team league), seismic cross-country roster moves, and everything in between, here is your primer on a very exciting fifth season of the WUL!
by Noam Gumerman, WUL Lead Writer
Full roster drops for the 2026 WUL season are coming soon, but that hasn’t stopped teams from making big moves early in the offseason. From locking in cornerstone players to landing major transfers, the groundwork for 2026 is already being laid. Which teams are leveling up? Who’s changing jerseys? And how will the return to an eight-team league reshape the competitive landscape? Let’s break down the most impactful roster moves so far.
Robyn Fennig Highlights Returning Vets to Bay Area Falcons
After falling just two points short of a first-ever WUL Championship—on home turf, no less—the Bay Area Falcons have re-signed their offensive engine, Robyn Fennig. Fennig helped propel the Falcons to the final, commanding the offense throughout the season. She finished with the second-most throwing yards across the league, earned First Team All-WUL honors, and was an MVP finalist.
Fennig adds a level of verticality to the Bay Area offense that, in recent years, only Colorado—with Ari Nelson—has consistently matched. But she’s also an elite decision-maker who controls the pace of play at a very high level. With another year in Bay Area’s system, she’ll be an even greater threat.
And it’s not just Fennig. Bay Area has also signed five other multi-year Falcons veterans who have been key contributors, signaling a continued commitment to building an experienced roster. Georgia Cardosa (2025 DPOTY finalist, Second Team All-WUL) and Margo Donahue (2024 BPOTY finalist, Second Team All-WUL) headline the returning group. We’ll see if any big-name rookies join the Falcons once again, but even if Bay Area brings back the same roster as last season, they’ll enter 2026 with a strong chance to capture the WUL title.
Kyra Khoroujnikova (UT) and Megan Maxfield (CO) Join Defending Champs
The biggest news from San Diego Super Bloom’s roster announcement (the first of the 2026 team rosters to drop) was the addition of longtime Utah Wild stalwart Kyra Khoroujnikova and standout defender Megan Maxfield, who previously starred with Arizona Sidewinders and Colorado Alpenglow. For a team that—despite their offensive firepower—rode a dominant defensive performance to their first-ever WUL Championship in 2024, the additions of Khoroujnikova and Maxfield feel like a case of the rich getting richer.
Both players add depth, range, and versatility to a defense that stifled every offense in the league last season and seamlessly shifted between zone, person, and hybrid looks. Perhaps even more notably, it’s a talent-stealing coup for San Diego. Both the Wild and Alpenglow will look noticeably thinner without Khoroujnikova and Maxfield and will have to adjust to life without two players who consistently did the little things right for their teams.
San Diego Super Bloom Enter New Era Without Dena Elimelech
Despite the flurry of signings, perhaps the most significant news of the pre-signing period is the departure of Dena Elimelech from the defending champion San Diego Super Bloom to the PUL’s Atlanta Soul. Elimelech has been a cornerstone of Super Bloom’s core for several seasons and was a critical contributor to their championship run a year ago. Among her many accolades, she is the WUL’s all-time leader in both blocks and receiving yards.
Khoroujnikova and Maxfield will help fill some of the gaps, and Super Bloom has also signed Cam Helm and Naomi Guzman from Los Angeles Astra, along with 2025 USAU College Callahan Award winner Laura Blume. Still, none of those players—at least so far—replicate exactly what Elimelech brought to the field. Who steps up to fill the void left by one of the greatest players in league history will be the central question facing the Super Bloom roster in 2026.
Kristen Reed, Kez Gesell Make Returns To WUL With Arizona
Arizona has endured a challenging couple of seasons, but the Sidewinders have made several moves aimed at stabilizing the roster and pushing toward the franchise’s first-ever winning season. Chief among them are the return of a healthy Kez Gesell and the addition of offensive powerhouse, Kristen Reed.
Gesell and Reed both address one of Arizona’s biggest struggles in recent years: scoring goals.
Reed, a proven goal-scorer at every level she’s played, immediately raises Arizona’s offensive ceiling. In her lone WUL season with Colorado in 2023, Reed finished with 21 goals—third-most in the league—including an unforgettable seven-goal performance against Bay Area that showcased her ability to completely take over a game. Known for her elite timing and natural instinct for finding space in the endzone, Reed has consistently been one of the most difficult downfield matchups in the league. Her résumé beyond the WUL only reinforces that reputation, having led top club programs (namely Molly Brown) as a primary scoring threat.
Paired with Gesell—2023’s Breakout Player of the Year and a relentless cutter—Reed gives Arizona something it has lacked in recent seasons: a reliable, high-volume finishing duo capable of converting possessions into points. If the Sidewinders can complement that firepower with even modest improvements in throwing depth and offensive consistency, Gesell’s and Reed’s return could be the catalyst that finally allows Arizona’s offense to operate with confidence and pace.
As full rosters for the 2026 WUL season begin to take shape, these early moves offer a glimpse into how teams are positioning themselves for the year ahead. From defending champions doubling down on depth, to returning stars reshaping offenses and departures forcing new leaders to emerge, the ripple effects of the offseason are already being felt across the league.
With eight teams back in the fold and more signings still to come, this is only the beginning. The next few months will reveal which teams have built on their momentum—and which still have work to do—before the opening pull of the 2026 season.
The wait is over—your first look at the 2026 WUL season is here!
We’re excited to share the weekends you can expect to see WUL action this spring.
New storylines, returning stars, and can’t-miss matchups are on the horizon — whether you're in the stands or tuning in on YouTube.
Save the dates, and watch for the full schedule coming soon.
With eight (8) teams in the Western Ultimate League for 2026 with Los Angeles Astra’s return, the WUL will return to conference play between the North Conference and South Conference. Each team will play its in-conference opponents two times each and will play two out-of-conference opponents. Visit the schedule page to see the week-to-week breakdown for 2026.
North Conference: Colorado Alpenglow, Oregon Soar, Seattle Tempest, and Utah Wild
South Conference: Arizona Sidewinders, Bay Area Falcons, Los Angeles Astra, and San Diego Super Bloom
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