Week 12 was a final chance for all eight teams to end the regular season on their terms. All Championship Qualifiers handily won their matches with the closest game happening in Los Angeles, where Tempest won by 5 points (all three other matches had differentials of 10+ points). San Diego’s 12 point win in Arizona clinched them the top spot in the Southwest conference despite Bay Area beating Oregon at home 25-12. The biggest margin came from Colorado though, who traveled to Utah and put up a statement win of 25-10 on the road.
Game 1: SEA @ LA
Seattle Stays On Top
Despite being on the road with a tight roster, Seattle showed up in Los Angeles ready to play, jumping out to a 5-1 lead to start the game. After a timeout, Astra were able to right the ship and brought the score within one for much of the second quarter before Tempest grabbed a couple more breaks to go into half 11-7.
Tempest continued to assert their dominance in the second half, extending the lead to six during the third quarter, and never looked back, eventually winning by five. LA had no answer for Jamie Kauffman, who did it all for Seattle, showing off why she’s a contender for MVP with 7 goals, 4 assists, 4 blocks and 514 total yards. Rookie Gemma Munck also made a case for BPOTY with 4 goals and 304 total yards.
Despite a slow start and a couple short runs of Seattle breaks, Astra showed their grit, earning multiple breaks to be within 1-2 points for most of the second quarter before Seattle opened up their lead. LA’s Chip Yen served up 4 goals, 1 assist and 285 total yards, Rache Johnston earned her own 3 goals and 1 assist, and Hanae Oda delivered 2 goals, 2 assists and one block on 207 total yards.
Game 2: OR @ BAY
Bay All Business Against Oregon
Bay Area opened the game with 3 unanswered goals and never looked back as they prepared to enter Championship Weekend, while Oregon struggled to find a rhythm with a short roster, missing multiple starters.
Things were looking up for Oregon as they fought through their first deficit to bring the game within 2, but the game was out of reach after they were completely silenced by the Bay Area in the second quarter. Oregon doesn’t give up without a fight though, and outscored the Falcons in the third quarter before eventually giving up extra breaks to end the game with a 13 goal deficit.
The Falcons flexed the depth of their roster to keep up high defensive pressure (3 players logged 3 blocks: Courtney Greenley, Dawn Culton, and Julia Mankoff). The cutters ran the show as Olivia Goss scored 4 goals, 2 assists and earned 300 total yards and Julianna Madigan grabbed 3 goals, 3 assists and earned 329 total yards.
With multiple starters missing, Oregon simply seemed to lack the legs to meet the Falcon’s defensive pressure, but there were a few players the Bay simply didn’t have an answer for. Captain Caitlin Fitzgerald threw 6 assists while also earning 1 block and 361 total yards. Second year pro Sylvi Barnes showed out as well, demolishing her defenders all over the field and ending the game with 2 goals, 1 assist and 418 total yards. And finally, Emily Pozzy held down the backfield throwing for 397 yards and adding 2 blocks and goals each with 1 assist on top.
Game 3: CO @ UT
Colorado Crushes Utah
Colorado sprinted out to a 6-1 lead in the first quarter, and the game was never closer than 4 after that. The Alpenglow had their foot on the gas the entire game as they get ready for Championship Weekend.
Utah was unable to answer Colorado’s pressure, or create much of their own. The Wild earned only 8 opportunities for a break and weren’t able to convert any of them into a score.
MVP candidate Abby Thorpe showed why she’s the big dog. Thorpe turned in another 6 goals, 2 assists and 2 blocks with over 510 total yards on the field. Another veteran for Colorado, Rena Kawabata, turned in one of their best games with 2 goals, 3 assists and 3 blocks on 241 total yards playing largely on the D-line.
Wild heavily relied on new star Eva Bell (4 assists, 1 block and 530 total yards) to distribute the disc, but Bell was left without enough options too many times. Anna McClurken had high usage for Utah with 392 total yards, but trying to do it all led to 8 turnovers, representing the high pressure Utah felt from the Alpenglow.
Colorado used the game to try out some less common zone looks and moved players across lines, showing they have a breadth of tools for when they face off against top Southwest team San Diego in the semifinals of Championship Weekend.
Game 4: SD @ AZ
San Diego Stifles Sidewinders
In our final regular season game of the year, Super Bloom needed a win to stay on top of the Southwest Conference. They delivered emphatically, opening the game with 2 breaks and not looking back, holding Arizona to just 3 points over the entire second half.
Despite having standout performances from some players, Arizona felt their missing regular contributors Lauren Pisani and Kez Gesell. Madison Speagle took the reins downfield, earning her 5 goals, 3 blocks, 0 turns and the nod for Week 12 Player of the Week! Behind the disc, Chip Chang balled out, throwing 4 assists, completing all 29 of her passes including 3 hucks, and throwing for 352 yards.
San Diego also played without stars Kaela Helton and Kaitlyn Weaver, but they didn’t lose a step with their deep roster. Former Sidewinder Megan Maxfield took advantage of her space downfield with 3 goals, 1 assist and 1 block, with Merideth Byl (also a former Sidewinder) adding her own 3 goals and 1 assist on top of 338 total yards. Abbi Shilts was a highlight machine as well with 3 of her own goals, 1 assist, 1 block and 423 total yards with Laura Blume confidently distributing for 232 throwing yards with an assist to boot.