After a hard fought weekend, your Utah Wild are the Western Ultimate League Runners Up for 2024, falling 12-20 to Colorado Alpenglow in Denver in the title game. If you missed the action, you can re-watch the game for free on the WUL YouTube page here! There were standout performances from our defensive lines, specifically players Shae Wallen (5 blocks, 1 goal), Dee Bozone (2 blocks, 2 goals) and Kendra Miller (20 receptions for 242 yards). Thank you to all of our fans and community members who helped us achieve the best season yet! We can't wait to keep growing and climbing with you for the 2025 season!
League Wide Awards
Two Wild players players were also recognized in WUL end of season awards: Brooke Stanislawski for league Most Valuable Player and Abbie Davis for league Breakout Player of the Year, with Davis taking home the hardware! Both players were also recognized as All-WUL First (Stanislawski) and Second (Davis) Team honors.
A member of Utah’s vaunted offensive handler set in 2023, Stanislawski transitioned to more of a downfield role in 2024 and immediately made the most of it. In the first game of the 2024 season, she put up 4 goals, 4 assists and 3 blocks, a combination never done before in the league, and won the Player of the Week award. She finished the season with a team leading 10 goals and 15 assists, 1 of 3 players in the league to complete a season-long “double-double”, and the only player to lead their team in both categories. Looking at advanced metrics paints much the same picture: Stanislawski led the Wild in both Relative Offensive Efficiency and Relative Defensive Efficiency, again the only player in the league to lead their team in both metrics. And if stats aren’t enough, Wild players were effusive with their praise for Stanislawski as an athlete and teammate, remarking how she “brings out the best in every player she is on a line with”, “makes big plays when it matters most”, and “somehow gets better after each year.” If Stanislawski does somehow get even better in 2025, Utah’s season could end yet again in the championship game - but this time with a different outcome.
How often does a player start their 1st professional season with 2 blocks in their first game? How about 2 blocks in every game? Add in a Player of the Week-winning 5 goal, 245 receiving yard performance after a mid-season switch to O-line and you arrive at one player: Abbie Davis. The 2024 Breakout Player of the Year finished 2nd in the league in blocks with 13, led the league in Block Rate and became the 1st player in league history to record at least 2 blocks in each of their first 6 games. She also caught the most hucks and 3rd most goals of any player on Utah and had the 3rd highest Completion % on the team. She averaged 2.3 goals and 194 receiving yards per game since moving to O-line in her fourth game. Oh, and she’s still in college. Her coaches said she was “absolutely vital to the success of the Wild this season” and it's “hard to overstate her impact”. Her teammates marveled at her talent, “intuitive cutting”, and “attitude towards the game”. She’s the most recent example of the prolific Utah youth pipeline coming into fruition, and she’s set to cause havoc to Wild opponents and dominate WUL stat-sheets for years to come.
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