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
Virginia Fredericksburg Lady Gunners Northern Virginia area Fredericksburg, VA expansion
New Jersey Jersey Sky Blue Northern New Jersey area Madison, NJ expansion
Washington, D.C. 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

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 Minnesota Lightning 4
AT2 Virginia Richmond Kickers Destiny 2
MW1 Minnesota Minnesota Lightning 2
AT1 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women 5
AT1 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women (AET) 4
MW2 Michigan Michigan Hawks 2

Eastern Conference

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

Western Conference

Western Finals
   
W1 California San Diego Sunwaves 1
W2 Washington (state) Seattle Sounders Women 2

W-League Championship Bracket

  Semifinal            
  NE1 Washington, D.C. Washington Freedom 3  
  H New York (state) Rochester Raging Rhinos 0   Championship
      NE1 Washington, D.C. Washington Freedom 3
  Semifinal   AT1 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women 1
  AT1 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women 4
  W2 Washington (state) Seattle Sounders Women 1   Consolation
    W2 Washington (state) Seattle Sounders Women 2
    H New York (state) Rochester Raging Rhinos 1

Divisional Round

Quebec Laval Comets 1 – 3 Ontario Toronto Lady Lynx
Gagné  7'
Busque Yellow card 54'
Bilodeau Yellow card 83'		 (Report) Marton  47'
Ramsdale Yellow card 48'  57'
Morra  70'
Harrison Yellow card 85'
Attendance: 647
Referee: Patricia Peebles (USA)
Virginia Northern Virginia Majestics 1 – 3 New Jersey 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

Ontario Toronto Lady Lynx 1 – 6 Washington, D.C. Washington Freedom
Harrison Yellow card 45'
Romagnuolo Yellow card 75'
Allysha Chapman  78'		 (Report) Lindsey  13'  26'
Welsh  31'
Watson  76'
Hammond  80'
Porto  90'
Attendance: 450
Referee: Marvin Mohring (CAN)
Michigan Michigan Hawks 0 – 4 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Delvecchio Yellow card 59' (Report) Steinmann  14'  74'
 45' (OG)
Harbrueger  87'
Macalester Stadium
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 228
Referee: Jorge Ocontrillo (USA)
Virginia Richmond Kickers Destiny 2 – 4
(AET)		 Minnesota Minnesota Lightning
Grier Yellow card 68'
Sauerbrunn  79'
J. Parsons  88'
Stephens-David Yellow card 97'		 (Report) Mueller  38'
Smith  69'  103'  110'
Macalester Stadium
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 1,619
Referee: Mishaun Ahmad (USA)
New Jersey Jersey Sky Blue 0 – 4 Ontario Ottawa Fury Women
(Report) Taylor  30'  68'
Jeffers Yellow card 44'
Laue  71'
Hamel  77'
Attendance: 450
Referee: Joe Audi (CAN)

Conference Finals

Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women 5 – 2 Minnesota Minnesota Lightning
Latham  4'  30'
Schneider  16'
Davey  22'
Harbrueger  69'
Eriksson Yellow card 74'
Hall Yellow card 85'		 (Report) Smith  85'  86' (PK)
Storlien (coach) Red card 90'
Macalester Stadium
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 1725
Referee: (USA)
Washington, D.C. Washington Freedom 1 – 0 Ontario Ottawa Fury Women
Welsh  24'
Huffman Yellow card 69'		 (Report) McCormack Yellow card 23'
Hamel Yellow card 61'
Attendance: 305
Referee: Carol Anne Chenard (CAN)
Washington (state) Seattle Sounders Women 2 – 1 California San Diego Sunwaves
Bridges  34'
Patterson  60'		 (Report) Epsten  30' Yellow card 84'
Attendance: 843
Referee: Marlene Duffy (USA)

W-League Semifinals

Washington (state) Seattle Sounders Women 1 – 4 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Patterson  6' (Report) Latham  44'
Minnax  47'
Buff  68'
Steinmann  80'
Referee: Katherine Dziedzic (USA)
New York (state) Rochester Raging Rhinos 0 – 3 Washington, D.C. Washington Freedom
Kruze Yellow card 84'
Russell Yellow card 90'		 (Report) Huffman  10'
Moros  29'
Lindsey  53'
Referee: Franco Bevilacqua (USA)

W-League Third-Place Game

New York (state) Rochester Raging Rhinos 1 – 2 Washington (state) Seattle Sounders Women
Kinmond  70'
Bybee Yellow card 90'		 Report Arrant  51'
Slawson  75'
Smith Yellow card 90'
Referee: Jeffrey Mellen (USA)

W-League Final

Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women 1 – 3 Washington, D.C. Washington Freedom
Schneider Yellow card 59'
Davey  67'
Buff Yellow card 71'
Harbrueger Yellow card 90'		 (Report) Moros  1'
Welsh  40' Yellow card 85'
McCarty  88'
Referee: Dino Sorbara (USA)

References

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