2007 USL W-League season

USL W-League
Season2007
ChampionsWashington Freedom (1st Title)
Regular Season titleOttawa Fury Women (1st Title)
2006
2008

The 2007 W-League Season was the league's 13th.

The Washington Freedom finished the season as national champions, beating the Atlanta Silverbacks Women 3–1 in the W-League Championship game in Rochester, New York on 7 August 2007.

Ottawa Fury Women finished with the best regular season record in the league, winning 11 out of their 12 games, suffering no losses, and finishing with a +38 goal difference.

Changes from 2006 season

Name changes

Two teams changed their names: The Long Island Lady Riders changed their name to the Long Island Rough Riders, and the San Diego Lady Gauchos changed their name to the San Diego Sunwaves.

New teams

Three teams were added for the season:

Team Name Metro Area Location Previous Affiliation
Fredericksburg Lady Gunners Northern Virginia area Fredericksburg, VA expansion
Jersey Sky Blue Northern New Jersey area Madison, NJ expansion
Washington Freedom National Capital area Washington, D.C. associate member (former member of WUSA)

Teams Leaving

Five teams folded after the 2006 season:

Carolina Dynamo Women went on hiatus for this season.

Standings

Blue indicates division title clinched
Green indicates playoff berth clinched
Orange indicates bye into the W-League semifinals as hosts.

Central Conference

Atlantic Division

Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 Atlanta Silverbacks Women 12 9 2 1 25 10 +15 28
2 Richmond Kickers Destiny 12 9 2 1 25 10 +15 28
3 Charlotte Lady Eagles 12 8 2 2 31 10 +21 26
4 Cocoa Expos Women 11 5 3 3 20 8 +12 18[a]
5 Hampton Roads Piranhas 11 2 8 1 9 22 −13 7[a]
6 Bradenton Athletics 11 1 9 1 9 32 −23 4[a]
7 Fredericksburg Lady Gunners 11 1 9 1 6 33 −27 4[a]
Source:
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c d The Fredericksburg at Cocoa and Bradenton at Hampton Roads games were unable to be rescheduled before the end of the season, and were not played due to having no effect on the playoffs.

Midwest Division

Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 Minnesota Lightning 12 10 1 1 27 8 +19 31
2 Michigan Hawks 12 8 3 1 27 13 +14 25
3 Cleveland Internationals Women 12 8 4 0 30 16 +14 24
4 Chicago Gaels 12 7 4 1 39 17 +22 22
5 London Gryphons 12 4 8 0 19 41 −22 12
6 Fort Wayne Fever 12 1 9 2 8 27 −19 5
7 West Michigan Firewomen 12 1 10 1 7 25 −18 4
Source:

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division

Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 Washington Freedom 14 12 1 1 48 10 +38 37
2 Jersey Sky Blue 14 12 2 0 48 6 +42 36
3 Northern Virginia Majestics 14 7 6 1 28 26 +2 22
4 Boston Renegades 14 7 7 0 19 31 −12 21
5 New Jersey Wildcats 14 5 5 4 16 13 +3 19
6 Long Island Rough Riders 14 5 7 2 20 24 −4 17
7 New York Magic 14 1 10 3 8 32 −24 6
8 Western Mass Lady Pioneers 14 1 12 1 9 54 −45 4
Source:

Northern Division

Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 Ottawa Fury Women 12 11 0 1 47 9 +38 34
2 Toronto Lady Lynx 12 7 3 2 29 16 +13 23
3 Laval Comets 12 7 4 1 35 10 +25 22
4 Rochester Rhinos Women 12 5 7 0 21 28 −7 15
5 Hamilton Avalanche 12 2 10 0 11 42 −31 6
6 Vermont Lady Voltage 12 2 10 0 9 47 −38 6
Source:

Western Conference

Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 San Diego Sunwaves 12 8 3 1 28 12 +16 25
2 Seattle Sounders Women 12 7 4 1 21 14 +7 22
3 Vancouver Whitecaps Women 12 6 3 3 24 17 +7 21
4 Fort Collins Force 12 4 7 1 18 31 −13 13
5 Mile High Edge 12 3 7 2 16 26 −10 11
6 Real Colorado Cougars 12 3 7 2 11 18 −7 11
Source:

Playoffs

Format

Four teams qualify from the Central Conference, six from the Eastern Conference, and two from the Western Conference.

The Division Winners in the Central Conference will play the second place team of the other division. In the Eastern Conference, the second and third place team in each division will play, with the winner of that match playing the top team in the other division. Finally, the two winners of the latter matches will play for the Eastern Conference championship. The top two teams in the Western Conference will play each other.

The Rochester Raging Rhinos automatically qualify for the W-League Semifinals as hosts. They will play the highest-ranked Conference Champion in their semifinal, with the other two Conference Champions will play in the other.

Conference Brackets

Central Conference

Central Semifinals Central Championship
      
MW1 Minnesota Lightning 4
AT2 Richmond Kickers Destiny 2
MW1 Minnesota Lightning 2
AT1 Atlanta Silverbacks Women 5
AT1 Atlanta Silverbacks Women (AET) 4
MW2 Michigan Hawks 2

Eastern Conference

Eastern Divisional Round Eastern Semifinals Eastern Championship
NE1 Washington Freedom 6
NO2 Toronto Lady Lynx 3 NO2 Toronto Lady Lynx 1
NO3 Laval Comets 1 NE1 Washington Freedom 1
NO1 Ottawa Fury Women 0
NO1 Ottawa Fury Women 4
NE2 Jersey Sky Blue 3 NE2 Jersey Sky Blue 0
NE3 Northern Virginia Majestics 1

Western Conference

Western Finals
   
W1 San Diego Sunwaves 1
W2 Seattle Sounders Women 2

W-League Championship Bracket

Semifinals Championship
      
NE1 Washington Freedom 3
H Rochester Raging Rhinos 0
NE1 Washington Freedom 3
AT1 Atlanta Silverbacks Women 1
AT1 Atlanta Silverbacks Women 4
W2 Seattle Sounders Women 1 Consolation
W2 Seattle Sounders Women 2
H Rochester Raging Rhinos 1

Divisional Round

Toronto Lady Lynx3 – 1 Laval Comets
Marton 47'
Ramsdale  48' 57'
Morra 70'
Harrison  85'
(Report) Gagné 7'
Busque  54'
Bilodeau  83'
Attendance: 647
Referee: Patricia Peebles (USA)

Jersey Sky Blue3 – 1 Northern Virginia Majestics
DiPaolo 8'
Dickenmann 19'
Griffin 42'
(Report) Banks 66'
Ranger Stadium, Drew University
Madison, New Jersey
Attendance: 263
Referee: Hossam Saad (USA)

Conference semifinals

Washington Freedom6 – 1 Toronto Lady Lynx
Lindsey 13' 26'
Welsh 31'
Watson 76'
Hammond 80'
Porto 90'
(Report) Harrison  45'
Romagnuolo  75'
Allysha Chapman 78'
Attendance: 450
Referee: Marvin Mohring (CAN)

Atlanta Silverbacks Women4 – 0 Michigan Hawks
Steinmann 14' 74'
45' (OG)
Harbrueger 87'
(Report) Delvecchio  59'
Macalester Stadium
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 228
Referee: Jorge Ocontrillo (USA)

Minnesota Lightning4 – 2
(AET)
Richmond Kickers Destiny
Mueller 38'
Smith 69' 103' 110'
(Report) Grier  68'
Sauerbrunn 79'
J. Parsons 88'
Stephens-David  97'
Macalester Stadium
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 1,619
Referee: Mishaun Ahmad (USA)

Ottawa Fury Women4 – 0 Jersey Sky Blue
Taylor 30' 68'
Jeffers  44'
Laue 71'
Hamel 77'
(Report)
Attendance: 450
Referee: Joe Audi (CAN)

Conference finals

Minnesota Lightning2 – 5 Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Smith 85' 86' (PK)
Storlien (coach)  90'
(Report) Latham 4' 30'
Schneider 16'
Davey 22'
Harbrueger 69'
Eriksson  74'
Hall  85'
Macalester Stadium
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 1725
Referee: (USA)

Ottawa Fury Women0 – 1 Washington Freedom
McCormack  23'
Hamel  61'
(Report) Welsh 24'
Huffman  69'
Attendance: 305
Referee: Carol Anne Chenard (CAN)

San Diego Sunwaves1 – 2 Seattle Sounders Women
Epsten 30'  84' (Report) Bridges 34'
Patterson 60'
Attendance: 843
Referee: Marlene Duffy (USA)

W-League Semifinals

Atlanta Silverbacks Women4 – 1 Seattle Sounders Women
Latham 44'
Minnax 47'
Buff 68'
Steinmann 80'
(Report) Patterson 6'
Referee: Katherine Dziedzic (USA)

Rochester Raging Rhinos0 – 3 Washington Freedom
Kruze  84'
Russell  90'
(Report) Huffman 10'
Moros 29'
Lindsey 53'
Referee: Franco Bevilacqua (USA)

W-League Third-Place Game

Rochester Raging Rhinos1 – 2 Seattle Sounders Women
Kinmond 70'
Bybee  90'
Report Arrant 51'
Slawson 75'
Smith  90'
Referee: Jeffrey Mellen (USA)

W-League Final

Washington Freedom3 – 1 Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Moros 1'
Welsh 40'  85'
McCarty 88'
(Report) Schneider  59'
Davey 67'
Buff  71'
Harbrueger  90'
Referee: Dino Sorbara (USA)

References