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:

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: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ ^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: ^{[citation needed]}

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: ^{[citation needed]}

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: ^{[citation needed]}

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: ^{[citation needed]}

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

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)

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

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)

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)

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)

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

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)

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

References

[table_hth_FLG0.057297083110221-1] 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.

[a]