2008 USL W-League season

USL W-League

Season	2008
Champions	Pali Blues
← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 W-League Season was the league's 14th. The regular season began on May 10, 2008, and ended on July 20.

Pali Blues finished the season as national champions, beating FC Indiana 2-1 in the W-League Championship game in Virginia Beach, Virginia on 2 August 2008.

The Pali Blues also finished with the best regular season record in the league, winning all 12 of their matches, and finishing with a +35 goal difference.

Atlanta Silverbacks Women's striker Sarah Steinmann was the league's top scorer, with 19 goals. FC Indiana's Laura Del Rio led the league with 13 assists, while Pali Blues goalkeeper Valerie Henderson enjoyed the best goalkeeping statistics, with a goals-against average of 0.142 per game, and posting 6 shutouts.

Changes from 2007 season

Nine teams were added for the season:

Team Name	Metro Area	Location	Previous Affiliation
Carolina Dynamo	Greensboro area	Greensboro, NC	expansion
Carolina RailHawks	Research Triangle area	Cary, NC	expansion
Connecticut Passion	Hartford and New Haven areas	Berlin, CT	expansion
FC Indiana	Indianapolis area	Indianapolis, IN	previously in WPSL
Kalamazoo Outrage	Kalamazoo area	Kalamazoo, MI	expansion
Los Angeles Legends	suburban Los Angeles area	Azusa, CA	expansion
Pali Blues	Los Angeles area	Los Angeles, CA	expansion
Tampa Bay Hellenic	Tampa Bay area	Tampa, FL	expansion
West Virginia Illusion	Morgantown/North-Central West Virginia areas	Fairmont, WV	expansion

Three teams folded after the 2007 season: Mile High Edge, and San Diego Sunwaves. Cocoa Expos Women left the league for the WPSL.

Standings

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

Central Conference

Midwest Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	FC Indiana	14	13	0	1	67	3	+64	40
2	Chicago Gaels	14	11	3	0	39	9	+30	33
3	Minnesota Lightning	14	9	3	2	32	19	+13	29
4	Cleveland Internationals Women	14	8	4	2	31	23	+8	26
5	Michigan Hawks	14	4	9	1	12	33	-21	13
6	Kalamazoo Outrage	14	2	10	2	6	36	-30	8
7	Fort Wayne Fever *	13	2	10	1	16	39	-23	7
8	West Michigan Firewomen *	13	1	11	1	11	52	-41	4

* Fort Wayne and West Michigan did not play each other a second time, as the game could not be rescheduled before July 20 and would not affect the playoffs.

Northern Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Ottawa Fury Women	14	13	1	0	51	7	+44	39
2	Toronto Lady Lynx	14	11	2	1	40	14	+26	34
3	Laval Comets	14	9	4	1	39	17	+22	28
4	Rochester Rhinos Women	14	6	6	2	18	33	-14	20
5	Hamilton Avalanche	14	5	6	3	19	21	-2	18
6	Western Mass Lady Pioneers	14	3	9	2	18	34	-16	11
7	London Gryphons	14	3	9	2	15	35	-20	11
8	Vermont Lady Voltage	14	0	13	1	5	44	-39	1

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Atlanta Silverbacks Women	14	13	0	1	50	6	+44	40
2	Charlotte Lady Eagles	14	11	2	1	44	13	+31	34
3	Tampa Bay Hellenic	14	8	4	2	27	16	+11	26
4	Hampton Roads Piranhas	14	7	6	1	29	19	+9	22
5	Carolina RailHawks	14	7	6	1	22	17	+5	22
6	Richmond Kickers Destiny	14	6	8	0	18	28	-10	18
7	Carolina Dynamo	14	4	8	2	23	30	-7	14
8	Bradenton Athletics	14	2	12	0	11	52	-41	6
9	West Virginia Illusion	14	1	13	0	6	46	-40	3

Northeast Division

Place	Team	P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Washington Freedom	14	11	1	2	32	7	+25	35
2	Long Island Rough Riders	14	9	3	2	28	13	+15	29
3	Boston Renegades	14	9	3	2	32	12	+20	29
4	Jersey Sky Blue	14	8	4	2	14	10	+4	26
5	Connecticut Passion	14	7	5	2	24	23	+1	23
6	Northern Virginia Majestics	14	3	6	5	17	23	-6	14
7	New York Magic	14	3	7	4	14	23	-9	13
8	New Jersey Wildcats	14	2	10	2	17	35	-18	8
9	Fredericksburg Lady Gunners	14	0	13	1	5	37	-32	1

Western Conference

Place	Team	P	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Pali Blues	12	12	0	0	39	4	+35	36
2	Vancouver Whitecaps Women	12	7	2	3	21	18	+3	24
3	Seattle Sounders Women	12	5	3	4	19	11	+8	19
4	Real Colorado Cougars	12	5	4	3	15	19	-4	18
5	Fort Collins Force	12	3	6	3	15	19	-4	12
6	Los Angeles Legends	12	1	9	2	11	26	-15	5
7	Ventura County Fusion	12	1	10	1	9	32	-23	4

Playoffs

Format

Five teams each from the Central and Eastern Conferences, and two from the Western Conference, qualify for the playoffs.

In the Central Conference, the second and third place teams from the Northern Division play a one-leg playoff with the winner advancing to the Conference Semifinals, where they will play the Midwest Division champion. The other semifinal will have the second place team from the Midwest Division playing the Northern Division champion.

In the Eastern Conference, the second and third place teams from the Northeast Division play a one-leg playoff with the winner andvancing to play the Atlantic Division champion. The other semifinal will have the second place team from the Atlantic Division playing the Northeast Division champion.

The two teams in the Western Conference will play each other to advance to the W-League Semifinals.

The Regular Season champion, Pali Blues, receive a bye into the W-League semifinals, with the second and third place teams from the Western Conference receiving playoff berths.

Conference Brackets

Central Conference

Central Divisional Round

Central Semifinals

Central Championship

MW1

FC Indiana

5

NO2

Toronto Lady Lynx

0

NO3

Laval Comets

1

NO3

Laval Comets

2

MW1

FC Indiana (AET)

4

NO1

Ottawa Fury Women

3

NO1

Ottawa Fury Women

3

MW2

Chicago Gaels

2

Eastern Conference

Eastern Divisional Round

Eastern Semifinals

Eastern Championship

AT1

Atlanta Silverbacks Women

1

NE2

Long Island Rough Riders

1

NE2

Long Island Rough Riders

0

NE3

Boston Renegades

0

AT1

Atlanta Silverbacks Women

1

NE1

Washington Freedom (AET)

2

NE1

Washington Freedom (AET)

6

AT2

Charlotte Lady Eagles

5

Western Conference

	Western Finals
	W1	Vancouver Whitecaps Women	0
	W2	Seattle Sounders Women	1

Pali captured the W-League regular season title and bye into W-League semifinals, enabling Vancouver to take their spot in the Conference Playoffs, and allowing Seattle to clinch a playoff berth.

W-League Championship Bracket

	Semifinal
	WL	Pali Blues	2
	NE1	Washington Freedom	0			Championship
						WL	Pali Blues	2
	Semifinal				MW1	FC Indiana	1
	MW1	FC Indiana	1
	W2	Seattle Sounders Women	0			Consolation
						NE1	Washington Freedom	2
						W1	Seattle Sounders Women	0

Divisional Rounds

Boston Renegades v Long Island Rough Riders

July 23, 2008 7:00 ET

Boston Renegades	0 – 1	Long Island Rough Riders
	(Report)	DeRosa

St. Anthony's High School South Huntington, New York Attendance: 387 Referee: Samir Souidi (USA)

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Laval Comets v Toronto Lady Lynx

July 23, 2008 7:30 ET

Laval Comets	2 – 0	Toronto Lady Lynx
Gagné  8'  40' Walsh  89'	(Report)	Chapman  40'  89' Afonso  66'

Centennial Park Stadium Toronto, Ontario Attendance: 344 Referee: Michael Izzo (CAN)

Conference Semifinals

Chicago Gaels v Ottawa Fury Women

July 25, 2008 4:00 ET

Chicago Gaels	2 – 3	Ottawa Fury Women
Mutters  12' Spacht  26' Trevillian  74' Maynard  89' (PK)	(Report)	Taylor  12'  62' (PK) Powell  15'

Varsity Soccer Complex West Lafayette, Indiana Attendance: 50 Referee: Tony Deldis (USA)

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Charlotte Lady Eagles v Washington Freedom

July 25, 2008 5:00 ET

Charlotte Lady Eagles	5 – 6 (AET)	Washington Freedom
Rife  11' Schmedes  29' Murphy  59'  107' Lyons  66'	(Report)	Welsh  2'  16'  103' Keller  22' Moros  70' (PK) Janss  97'

RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium Atlanta, Georgia Attendance: 152 Referee: William Deland (USA)

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Laval Comets v FC Indiana

July 25, 2008 6:30 ET

Laval Comets	1 – 5	FC Indiana
Gagné  55' (PK)	(Report)	Hamel  14' Sesselmann  16'  25'  27' Parker  63' Phewa  72'

Varsity Soccer Complex West Lafayette, Indiana Attendance: 128 Referee: Andrew Scott (USA)

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Long Island Rough Riders v Atlanta Silverbacks Women

July 25, 2008 8:00 ET

Long Island Rough Riders	0 – 1	Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Fitzgerald (coach)  82' Speck  90'	(Report)	Latham  51' Buff  70' Harbrueger  90'

RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium Atlanta, Georgia Attendance: 485 Referee: Patrick Baker (USA)

Conference Finals

Seattle Sounders Women v Vancouver Whitecaps Women

July 26, 2008 7:00 ET

Seattle Sounders Women	1 – 0	Vancouver Whitecaps Women
Baysa  67'  84'	(Report)

Swangard Stadium Burnaby, British Columbia Attendance: 4,991 Referee: Darci Kurse (USA)

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Washington Freedom v Atlanta Silverbacks Women

July 26, 2008 8:00 ET

Washington Freedom	2 – 1 (AET)	Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Golebiowski  48' Welsh  77'  90' Andrzejewski  118'	(Report)	Bobo  16' Latham  23' Phillips  73'

RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium Atlanta, Georgia Attendance: 428 Referee: Tony Russo (USA)

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Ottawa Fury Women v FC Indiana

July 27, 2008 6:30 ET

Ottawa Fury Women	3 – 4 (AET)	FC Indiana
Kennedy  27' Milyak  53' (OG) Hance  65' Avner  85' Taylor  116' (PK) Raber  120'	(Report)	Sesselmann  15' Nault  63' Del Rio  90+2'  96' Phewa  101'

Varsity Soccer Complex West Lafayette, Indiana Referee: (USA)

W-League Semifinals

Seattle Sounders Women v FC Indiana

July 31, 2008 5:00 PM ET

Seattle Sounders Women	0 – 1	FC Indiana
		Phewa  16' Leyva  87'

Foster Field Virginia Beach, Virginia Referee: Debbie Coleman (USA)

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Washington Freedom v Pali Blues

July 31, 2008 8:00 PM ET

Washington Freedom	0 – 2	Pali Blues
Welsh  76'		Adams  26'  82'

Foster Field Virginia Beach, Virginia Attendance: 427 Referee: Meredith Hackett (USA)

W-League Third-Place Game

Seattle Sounders Women v Washington Freedom

August 2, 2008 4:30 PM ET

Seattle Sounders Women	0 – 2	Washington Freedom
		Welsh  11'  40' Huffman  76' Andrzejewski  86'

Foster Field Virginia Beach, Virginia Referee: Shawn Fitch (USA)

W-League Finals

FC Indiana v Pali Blues

August 2, 2008 7:30 PM ET

FC Indiana	1 – 2	Pali Blues
O'Rourke  47'		Wilson  49' LePeilbet  83' Pasqui  88'

Foster Field Virginia Beach, Virginia Attendance: 558 Referee: Sandra Serafini (USA)

External links

• USL historical stats