Seattle wins third WUL title with 13-8 championship over San Diego

Seattle’s third WUL title came with the kind of edge that does not show up in a clean highlight reel. In Portland, at the NE Complex at UO Portland, the Tempest beat San Diego Super Bloom 13-8 in a championship game shaped by wind, heat and the team that handled possession pressure better than the other.

Seattle set the tone early, racing to a 5-2 lead after the opening quarter despite blustery conditions. From there, the Tempest leaned on stout defense and cleaner decisions in the air and on the ground, while San Diego had a harder time matching that discipline as the game state tightened. It was not a night for polished offense so much as a night for staying connected when the disc was difficult to keep moving.

That composure was the defining trait of the title run, and it fit the larger picture around Championship Weekend. The Western Ultimate League held its 2026 awards ceremony during the June 13-14 weekend in Portland, and Seattle’s Jamie Kauffman was named league MVP after a season in which she became the first player in WUL history to lead the league in both goals, with 24, and assists, with 29. Her 29 assists also set a new single-season record, a mark that matched the Tempest’s ability to dictate games in more than one way.

The championship added another layer to Seattle’s franchise resume. The Tempest had already won back-to-back WUL titles in 2022 and 2023, then finished 2-4 and last in the Northwest Division in 2024. This title, their third, showed that the most important Seattle trait may be repeatability: not just talent, but the ability to absorb bad weather, manage game-state pressure and still close the door when opponents cannot.