2007 USL W-League season

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.

USL W-League
Season2007
ChampionsWashington Freedom
← 2006
2008 →

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

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[lower-alpha 1]
5 Hampton Roads Piranhas 11 2 8 1 9 22 −13 7[lower-alpha 1]
6 Bradenton Athletics 11 1 9 1 9 32 −23 4[lower-alpha 1]
7 Fredericksburg Lady Gunners 11 1 9 1 6 33 −27 4[lower-alpha 1]
Source:
Notes:
  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.

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:

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:

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:

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:

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

Conference Semifinals
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'
Keith Harris Stadium
Ottawa, Ontario
Attendance: 450
Referee: Marvin Mohring (CAN)
Michigan Hawks0 – 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)
Richmond Kickers Destiny2 – 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)
Jersey Sky Blue0 – 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 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'
Macalester Stadium
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 1725
Referee: (USA)
Washington Freedom1 – 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)
Seattle Sounders Women2 – 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 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
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
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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