Wild Still Searching for a Win After Third Game of the Season

By Margaret Pugh

The Utah Wild faced off against the Seattle Tempest at Memorial Stadium in Seattle on Saturday, April 12 where the Wild suffered their third loss of the season. 

Seattle was another tough opponent for Utah, the team is currently ranked second in the WUL behind the San Diego Super Bloom. This game is the third win for the currently undefeated Seattle Tempest. 

Another unique challenge posed by the game's venue was the sun’s angle throughout the game. The setting sun often shining directly in the eyes of throwers working down the field.  

The game was close, scoring spread out evenly among the four quarters for the Wild. However, the Tempest gained a strong lead with five goals in the first and seven in the second. This scoring ultimately made the difference in the game. 

Despite the loss, Utah played a strong defensive game. They led in both breaks and break opportunities, and had a total of 12 blocks, two of which came from Lauren Page. 

Utah opened up scoring first, and they started early. Utah’s Kyra Khoroujnikova put up the first goal of the game, scoring less than one minute into the first. Khoroujnikova led Utah over the course of the game with a total of four goals. 

With just two and a half minutes left in the game, Anna McClurkan scored for the Wild with an absolutely stunning Callahan, shrinking the Tempest’s lead to only three. 

Unfortunately, the game still resulted in a 19-14 loss for the Wild. All of the action can be watched here on the WUL’s Youtube channel. 

Next up, the Colorado Alpenglow will host the Wild on April 26, marking the second matchup of the season between the two teams.