2003 USL W-League season

USL W-League
Season2003
ChampionsHampton Roads Piranhas
← 2002
2004 →

The 2003 W-League Season was the league's 9th.

Changes from 2002 season

Format changes

The league went to the standard FIFA match points format: 3 points for a win (down from the previous 4), 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss, and eliminated bonus points for 3 or more goals scored.

Name changes

One team changed their name in the off-season:

Team Name Metro Area Previous Name
Vancouver Whitecaps Women Vancouver area Vancouver Breakers

Expansion teams

One teams were added for the season:

Team Name Metro Area Location Previous Affiliation
Columbus Lady Shooting Stars Columbus area Columbus, OH expansion

Teams leaving

Three teams went to the WPSL:

Seven teams folded after the 2002 season:

Standings

Blue indicates division title clinched
Green indicates playoff berth clinched

Central Conference

Atlantic Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 Hampton Roads Piranhas 12 12 0 0 33 5 +28 36
2 Charlotte Lady Eagles 12 9 3 0 35 11 +24 27
3 Northern Virginia Majestics 12 5 7 0 16 21 −5 15
4 Asheville Splash 12 3 9 0 14 24 −10 9
5 Greensboro Twisters 12 2 10 0 8 34 −26 6
Source:

Midwest Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 Chicago Cobras 12 10 1 1 33 8 +25 31
2 Northern Kentucky TC Stars 12 5 5 2 16 21 −5 17
3 Columbus Lady Shooting Stars 12 4 5 3 11 15 −4 15
4 Cincinnati Ladyhawks 12 4 7 1 12 17 −5 13
5 Windy City Bluez 12 3 8 1 18 29 −11 10
Source:

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 New Jersey Lady Stallions 14 11 3 0 36 11 +25 33
2 Long Island Lady Riders 14 9 5 0 35 21 +14 27
3 New Jersey Wildcats 14 7 7 0 29 20 +9 21
4 New York Magic 14 7 7 0 33 25 +8 21
5 South Jersey Banshees* 14 1 13 0 8 48 −40 0[lower-alpha 1]
Source:
Notes:
  1. South Jersey had 3 points deducted for violations.

Northern Division
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 Boston Renegades 14 13 0 1 60 5 +55 40
2 Ottawa Fury Women 14 11 2 1 61 9 +52 34
3 Toronto Inferno 14 6 7 1 32 31 +1 19
4 New Hampshire Lady Phantoms 14 3 11 0 21 53 −32 9
5 Rochester Ravens 14 0 13 1 4 96 −92 1
Source:

Western Conference
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 Vancouver Whitecaps Women 12 10 1 1 51 10 +41 31
2 Seattle Sounders Women 12 8 3 1 35 8 +27 25
3 Denver Lady Cougars 12 6 4 2 36 24 +12 20
4 Arizona Heatwave 12 6 6 0 21 24 −3 18
5 Fort Collins Force 12 3 8 1 16 39 −23 10
6 Mile High Mustangs 12 0 11 1 5 62 −57 1
Source:

Playoffs

Format

Four teams from both the Central and Eastern Conferences and two from the Western Conference qualified for the playoffs. All playoff matchups were in single-leg elimination tournament format with the higher seeded team hosting until the national semifinals. Seeding was determined by league record, with Boston Renegades seeded first with 39 points. The host of the national semifinals was determined by bids at the 2002 USL Annual General Meeting.

In the Central and Eastern Conferences, the top two teams from each division played, and then divisional winners played for the conference championship and to advance to the national semifinals.

The top two teams in the Western Conference, having only one division, played each other to advance to the W-League Semifinals.

The Hampton Roads Piranhas received a bye into the W-League national semifinals as host, with the third-place team from the Atlantic Division receiving a playoff berth.[1] The W-League championship final was televised live on Fox Sports World.

Conference Brackets

Central Conference

Divisional Championships Central Championship
      
MW1 Chicago Cobras 9
MW2 Northern Kentucky TC Stars 1
MW1 Chicago Cobras 3
AT1 Charlotte Lady Eagles 1
AT1 Charlotte Lady Eagles 4
AT2 Northern Virginia Majestics 1

Eastern Conference

Divisional Championships Eastern Championship
      
NO1 Boston Renegades 2
NO2 Ottawa Fury Women 3
NO2 Ottawa Fury Women 4
NE1 New Jersey Lady Stallions 2
NE1 New Jersey Lady Stallions 4
NE2 Long Island Lady Riders 2

Western Conference

Western Finals
   
W1 Vancouver Whitecaps Women (AET/PK) 2 (1)
W2 Seattle Sounders Women 2 (3)

W-League Championship Bracket
  Semifinal            
  WL Hampton Roads Piranhas 4  
  W2 Seattle Sounders Women 1   Championship
      WL Hampton Roads Piranhas 1
  Semifinal   MW1 Chicago Cobras 0
  MW1 Chicago Cobras 3
  NO2 Ottawa Fury Women 0   Third Place
    W2 Seattle Sounders Women 4
    NO2 Ottawa Fury Women 1

Divisional Championships
v
Referee: (USA)
v
Referee: (USA)
v
Referee: (USA)
v
Referee: (USA)

Conference championships
Seattle Sounders Women2 - 2
(AET)		 Vancouver Whitecaps Women
Frimpong  42'  43'
Forslund  105'		 Report Andrews  9'
Neil  65'
Penalties
McIntosh
Rodrick
Van Blommestein 		1 - 3 Hicks
Timko
Lang
Potis
Swangard Stadium
Burnaby, British Columbia
Attendance: 4,089
Referee: Martin Reid (USA)
Chicago Cobras3 - 1Charlotte Lady Eagles
Patrice Feulner  6'
Molly Greene  69'
Julianne Sitch  72'		 Report Christina Murphy  60'
Mooseheart Memorial Stadium
Referee: (USA)
Ottawa Fury Women4 - 2New Jersey Lady Stallions
Aishatu Alfa  11', 15', 53'
Eilish McConville  75'		 Report[2] Esmeralda Negron  30'
Sue Flamini  37'
Keith Harris Stadium
Attendance: 800
Referee: (USA)

W-League Semifinals
Seattle Sounders Women1 - 4 Hampton Roads Piranhas
Frimpong  15' Report Pedersen  3'
Boroski  46'  55'
Omagbemi  55'
Hibbs  71'
Ritchie  90'
Attendance: 1,006
Referee: Chip Boatright (USA)
Chicago Cobras3 - 0Ottawa Fury Women
Kristen Graczyk  12', 90'
Julianne Sitch  58'		 Report[3]
Referee: (USA)

W-League Third Place
Ottawa Fury Women1 - 4 Seattle Sounders Women
Alfa  65' Report Frimpong  2'  6'
Mueller  11'
Kimble  54'
Milyak  82'
Attendance: 1,237
Referee: Dan Stead (USA)

W-League Championship
Hampton Roads Piranhas1 - 0Chicago Cobras
Mercy Akide  96' Report[4]
Attendance: 1,237
Referee: (USA)
gollark: No.
gollark: Human bodies (and most evolved things) have a weird thing going on where they simultaneously contain vast quantities of miraculously well-optimized stuff and ridiculous nonsensical quirks an actual engineer would have easily fixed.
gollark: Obviously, it's bad design and I would totally do better.
gollark: It's called Muller's ratchet.
gollark: The whole sex chromosome thing is vaguely weird because apparently, since there's no recombination, they are subject to inevitable slow genetic decay.

See also
  • United Soccer Leagues 2003
  • 2003 PDL Season

References
  1. Demosphere International Inc. (August 1, 2003). "W-League Conference Finals set". uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on December 14, 2003. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  2. Demosphere International Inc. (August 3, 2003). "Ottawa wins Eastern Conference title". uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2004. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  3. Demosphere International Inc. (August 8, 2003). "Chicago advances to W-League final". uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2003. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  4. Demosphere International Inc. (August 10, 2003). "Piranhas win W-League title in OT". uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2003. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
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