2007 USL W-League season

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

USL W-League
Season2007
ChampionsWashington Freedom
2006
2008

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

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Name changes

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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

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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

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Five teams folded after the 2006 season:

Carolina Dynamo Women went on hiatus for this season.

Standings

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

Central Conference

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Atlantic Division

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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: [citation needed]
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

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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: [citation needed]

Eastern Conference

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Northeast Division

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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: [citation needed]

Northern Division

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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: [citation needed]

Western Conference

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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: [citation needed]

Playoffs

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Format

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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

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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

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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

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  Laval Comets1 – 3  Toronto Lady Lynx
Gagné   7'
Busque   54'
Bilodeau   83'
(Report) Marton   47'
Ramsdale   48'   57'
Morra   70'
Harrison   85'
Attendance: 647
Referee: Patricia Peebles (USA)

  Northern Virginia Majestics1 – 3  Jersey Sky Blue
Banks   66' (Report) DiPaolo   8'
Dickenmann   19'
Griffin   42'
Attendance: 263
Referee: Hossam Saad (USA)

Conference semifinals

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  Toronto Lady Lynx1 – 6  Washington Freedom
Harrison   45'
Romagnuolo   75'
Allysha Chapman   78'
(Report) Lindsey   13'   26'
Welsh   31'
Watson   76'
Hammond   80'
Porto   90'
Attendance: 450
Referee: Marvin Mohring (CAN)

  Michigan Hawks0 – 4  Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Delvecchio   59' (Report) Steinmann   14'   74'
  45' (OG)
Harbrueger   87'
Attendance: 228
Referee: Jorge Ocontrillo (USA)

  Richmond Kickers Destiny2 – 4
(AET)
  Minnesota Lightning
Grier   68'
Sauerbrunn   79'
J. Parsons   88'
Stephens-David   97'
(Report) Mueller   38'
Smith   69'   103'   110'
Attendance: 1,619
Referee: Mishaun Ahmad (USA)

  Jersey Sky Blue0 – 4  Ottawa Fury Women
(Report) Taylor   30'   68'
Jeffers   44'
Laue   71'
Hamel   77'
Attendance: 450
Referee: Joe Audi (CAN)

Conference finals

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  Atlanta Silverbacks Women5 – 2  Minnesota Lightning
Latham   4'   30'
Schneider   16'
Davey   22'
Harbrueger   69'
Eriksson   74'
Hall   85'
(Report) Smith   85'   86' (PK)
Storlien (coach)   90'
Attendance: 1725
Referee: (USA)

  Washington Freedom1 – 0  Ottawa Fury Women
Welsh   24'
Huffman   69'
(Report) McCormack   23'
Hamel   61'
Attendance: 305
Referee: Carol Anne Chenard (CAN)

  Seattle Sounders Women2 – 1  San Diego Sunwaves
Bridges   34'
Patterson   60'
(Report) Epsten   30'   84'
Attendance: 843
Referee: Marlene Duffy (USA)

W-League Semifinals

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  Seattle Sounders Women1 – 4  Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Patterson   6' (Report) Latham   44'
Minnax   47'
Buff   68'
Steinmann   80'
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

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  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

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  Atlanta Silverbacks Women1 – 3  Washington Freedom
Schneider   59'
Davey   67'
Buff   71'
Harbrueger   90'
(Report) Moros   1'
Welsh   40'   85'
McCarty   88'
Referee: Dino Sorbara (USA)

References

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