2007 USL W-League season

USL W-League

Season	2007
Champions	Washington Freedom
← 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:

• Central Florida Krush
• Cincinnati Ladyhawks
• New Hampshire Lady Phantoms
• South Jersey Banshees
• Sudbury Canadians

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

Place	Team	P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Points
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
5	Hampton Roads Piranhas*	11	2	8	1	9	22	-13	7
6	Bradenton Athletics*	11	1	9	1	9	32	-23	4
7	Fredericksburg Lady Gunners*	11	1	9	1	6	33	-27	4

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

Place	Team	P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Points
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	-28	4

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Points
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

Northern Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Ottawa Fury Women	12	11	0	1	47	9	+38	0
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

Western Conference

Place	Team	P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Points
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

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

	Semifinal
	NE1	Washington Freedom	3
	H	Rochester Raging Rhinos	0			Championship
						NE1	Washington Freedom	3
	Semifinal				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

Laval Comets v Toronto Lady Lynx

July 25, 2007 7:30 PM ET

Laval Comets	1 – 3	Toronto Lady Lynx
Gagné  7' Busque  54' Bilodeau  83'	(Report)	Marton  47' Ramsdale  48'  57' Morra  70' Harrison  85'

Centennial Park Stadium Toronto, Ontario Attendance: 647 Referee: Patricia Peebles (USA)

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Northern Virginia Majestics v Jersey Sky Blue

July 25, 2007 7:30 PM ET

Northern Virginia Majestics	1 – 3	Jersey Sky Blue
Banks  66'	(Report)	DiPaolo  8' Dickenmann  19' Griffin  42'

Ranger Stadium, Drew University Madison, New Jersey Attendance: 263 Referee: Hossam Saad (USA)

Conference Semifinals

Toronto Lady Lynx v Washington Freedom

July 28, 2007 2:00 PM ET

Toronto Lady Lynx	1 – 6	Washington Freedom
Harrison  45' Romagnuolo  75' Allysha Chapman  78'	(Report)	Lindsey  13'  26' Welsh  31' Watson  76' Hammond  80' Porto  90'

Keith Harris Stadium Ottawa, Ontario Attendance: 450 Referee: Marvin Mohring (CAN)

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Michigan Hawks v Atlanta Silverbacks Women

July 27, 2007 5:00 PM CT

Michigan Hawks	0 – 4	Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Delvecchio  59'	(Report)	Steinmann  14'  74'  45' (OG) Harbrueger  87'

Macalester Stadium Saint Paul, Minnesota Attendance: 228 Referee: Jorge Ocontrillo (USA)

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Richmond Kickers Destiny v Minnesota Lightning

July 27, 2007 7:30 PM CT

Richmond Kickers Destiny	2 – 4 (AET)	Minnesota Lightning
Grier  68' Sauerbrunn  79' J. Parsons  88' Stephens-David  97'	(Report)	Mueller  38' Smith  69'  103'  110'

Macalester Stadium Saint Paul, Minnesota Attendance: 1,619 Referee: Mishaun Ahmad (USA)

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Jersey Sky Blue v Ottawa Fury Women

July 28, 2007 5:00 PM ET

Jersey Sky Blue	0 – 4	Ottawa Fury Women
	(Report)	Taylor  30'  68' Jeffers  44' Laue  71' Hamel  77'

Keith Harris Stadium Ottawa, Ontario Attendance: 450 Referee: Joe Audi (CAN)

Conference Finals

Atlanta Silverbacks Women v Minnesota Lightning

July 28, 2007 7:00 PM ET

Atlanta Silverbacks Women	5 – 2	Minnesota Lightning
Latham  4'  30' Schneider  16' Davey  22' Harbrueger  69' Eriksson  74' Hall  85'	(Report)	Smith  85'  86' (PK) Storlien (coach)  90'

Macalester Stadium Saint Paul, Minnesota Attendance: 1725 Referee: (USA)

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Washington Freedom v Ottawa Fury Women

July 29, 2007 5:00 PM ET

Washington Freedom	1 – 0	Ottawa Fury Women
Welsh  24' Huffman  69'	(Report)	McCormack  23' Hamel  61'

Keith Harris Stadium Ottawa, Ontario Attendance: 305 Referee: Carol Anne Chenard (CAN)

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Seattle Sounders Women v San Diego Sunwaves

July 30, 2007 6:30 PM PT

Seattle Sounders Women	2 – 1	San Diego Sunwaves
Bridges  34' Patterson  60'	(Report)	Epsten  30'  84'

Torero Stadium San Diego, California Attendance: 843 Referee: Marlene Duffy (USA)

W-League Semifinals

Seattle Sounders Women v Atlanta Silverbacks Women

August 3, 2007 5:30 PM ET

Seattle Sounders Women	1 – 4	Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Patterson  6'	(Report)	Latham  44' Minnax  47' Buff  68' Steinmann  80'

PAETEC Park Rochester, New York Referee: Katherine Dziedzic (USA)

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Rochester Raging Rhinos v Washington Freedom

August 3, 2007 8:00 PM ET

Rochester Raging Rhinos	0 – 3	Washington Freedom
Kruze  84' Russell  90'	(Report)	Huffman  10' Moros  29' Lindsey  53'

PAETEC Park Rochester, New York Referee: Franco Bevilacqua (USA)

W-League Third-Place Game

Rochester Raging Rhinos v Seattle Sounders Women

August 5, 2007 2:30 PM ET

Rochester Raging Rhinos	1 – 2	Seattle Sounders Women
Kinmond  70' Bybee  90'	Report	Arrant  51' Slawson  75' Smith  90'

PAETEC Park Rochester, New York Referee: Jeffrey Mellen (USA)

W-League Final

Atlanta Silverbacks Women v Washington Freedom

August 5, 2007 5:30 PM ET

Atlanta Silverbacks Women	1 – 3	Washington Freedom
Schneider  59' Davey  67' Buff  71' Harbrueger  90'	(Report)	Moros  1' Welsh  40'  85' McCarty  88'

PAETEC Park Rochester, New York Referee: Dino Sorbara (USA)