After a weekend hiatus in which 12 players from the WPLL played three exhibition games against England’s national team, the WPLL returns to action Saturday night outside Philadelphia.
The Command will take on the Brave at 6 p.m. and the Fire play the Pride at 8 p.m. Both games are at John A. Farrell Stadium on the campus of West Chester University, which hosted last year’s WPLL semifinals. Tickets are $15.
The league will take another two weeks between games before concluding the regular season July 20 in Long Island.
Weekend Warriors
With just two weekends to go, only one thing is for certain in the WPLL standings: The Fight are No. 1. Beyond them, a lot could change over the final two weekends.
The 1-1 Brave could go 2-0 down the stretch and move into second; or they could go 0-2 and fall all the way to fourth.
At 1-1, the Pride also control their own destiny. They take on the 0-2 Fire in the second game Friday and then face a key matchup with the Brave to end the regular season July 20.
The 1-2 Command can’t finish better than fourth unless they stop the Brave in the first game Friday. The 0-2 Fire need a win just to have a shot at their first playoff berth.
Fight Club
One reason for the Fight’s 3-0 start is having the most potent offense in the league. Of the top 11 scorers in the WPLL, five play for the Fight.
While the Pride’s Halle Majorana leads the league among players with at least two games played with 4.5 points per game, the Fight has several players right behind. Katrina Dowd leads the frontrunners with 4.0 points per game, Kylie Ohlmiller checks in at 3.66 points per game, and Taylor Cummings, Sam Apuzzo and Kayla Treanor all average 3.0 points per game.
Taylor Made
Taylor Cummings has been just as versatile for the Fight as she was as a three-time Tewaaraton Award winner for Maryland. Cummings leads the league in caused turnovers per game at 3.33, sits tied for sixth in the league in goals (2.33) and points (3.0) per game, tied for third in ground balls per game (3.0) and is third in draw controls per game at 4.66. Cummings also leads the league in shots taken through three games with 19.
Pride’s Rocks
Through two games, no team has allowed fewer goals than the Pride, and it’s not been close thanks to a pair of stalwart goalies. The Pride have allowed just 11 total goals with goalies Molly Wolf and Liz Hogan splitting time effectively. Wolf has allowed only four goals in 60 minutes of action and saved 71 percent of the shots she’s faced. Hogan has allowed seven goals in 60 minutes and saved 63 percent of shots she’s seen.
Fire in a Hole
The Fire are looking for their first win of the year and of their existence. They have their work cut out with games against the Pride, whose only loss came to the unbeaten Fight, who are the Fire’s final opponent of the regular season. Hannah Nielsen’s debut last game gave them a big boost in the offense where they need it. The Fire are second in the league in shots per game, but only fourth in goals per game. Their defense, though, has been stingier than last year when they gave up more than 16 goals per game. This year, they have surrendered just 12 goals per game.