2009 W-League Championship Media Kit
August 7, 2009 Boyds, MD
2009 W-League Standings Central Conference Overall Home Away Great Lakes Division Pts GP W L T GF GA W L T GF GA W L T GF GA Ottawa Fury 35 14 11 1 2 40 9 6 0 1 25 5 5 1 1 15 4 Buffalo Flash 30 14 9 2 3 40 10 5 2 0 22 6 4 0 3 18 4 Quebec City Amiral 28 14 9 4 1 29 17 5 1 1 18 7 4 3 0 11 10 Laval Comets 22 14 7 6 1 22 16 4 2 1 15 5 3 4 0 7 11 Toronto Lady Lynx 22 14 6 4 4 25 17 4 1 2 15 5 2 3 2 10 12 London Gryphons 11 14 3 9 2 23 33 1 5 1 9 16 2 4 1 14 17 Hamilton Avalanche 11 14 3 9 2 14 35 2 4 1 9 17 1 5 1 5 18 Rochester Ravens 1 14 0 13 1 5 61 0 6 1 1 23 0 7 0 4 38 Midwest Division FC Indiana Lionesses Chicago Red Eleven Minnesota Lightning Cleveland Internationals Fort Wayne Fever Kalamazoo Outrage West Michigan Firewomen
Pts GP 32 12 31 12 23 12 14 12 11 12 8 12 1 12
W 10 10 7 4 3 2 0
L 0 1 3 6 7 8 11
T 2 1 2 2 2 2 1
GF 63 37 37 15 19 11 5
GA 2 6 11 28 40 39 61
W 6 5 4 1 2 1 0
L 0 0 1 3 4 4 5
T 0 1 1 2 0 1 1
GF 38 21 21 6 11 7 3
GA 0 1 4 13 19 17 26
W 4 5 3 3 1 1 0
L 0 1 2 3 3 4 6
T 2 0 1 0 2 1 0
GF GA 25 2 16 5 16 7 9 15 8 21 4 22 2 35
Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Atlanta Silverbacks Tampa Bay Hellenic Charlotte Lady Eagles Hampton Roads Piranhas Cary Lady Clarets Northern Virginia Majestics Richmond Kickers Destiny
Pts GP 31 12 27 12 21 12 18 12 16 12 4 12 4 12
W 10 8 6 6 5 1 1
L 1 1 3 6 6 10 10
T 1 3 3 0 1 1 1
GF 24 24 19 24 24 3 8
GA 3 7 13 18 23 21 41
W 5 5 3 3 3 1 1
L 0 0 2 3 2 4 5
T 1 1 1 0 1 1 0
GF 13 15 9 10 16 2 2
GA 1 3 7 7 13 8 20
W 5 3 3 3 2 0 0
L 1 1 1 3 4 6 5
T GF GA 0 11 2 2 9 4 2 10 6 0 14 11 0 8 10 0 1 13 1 6 21
Northeast Division Pts GP Hudson Valley QLB 38 14 Washington Freedom 37 14 Boston Renegades 25 14 New Jersey Wildcats 22 14 Long Island Rough Riders 19 14 Connecticut Passion (-3) 8 14 New York Magic 6 14 Western Mass Lady Pioneers (-3) 0 14
W 12 12 7 7 6 3 1 1
L 0 1 3 6 7 9 10 13
T 2 1 4 1 1 2 3 0
GF 40 49 35 17 28 18 8 8
GA 9 9 16 21 26 33 45 44
W 7 6 3 4 3 2 1 1
L 0 0 1 3 3 5 4 6
T 0 1 3 0 1 0 2 0
GF 22 29 23 9 15 9 4 6
GA 5 1 10 9 9 20 16 16
W 5 6 4 3 3 1 0 0
L 0 1 2 3 4 4 6 7
T 2 0 1 1 0 2 1 0
Western Conference Pts GP W Pali Blues 30 12 9 Colorado Force 18 12 4 Seattle Sounders 15 12 3 Real Colorado Cougars 15 12 4 Vancouver Whitecaps 14 12 3 Ventura County Fusion 10 12 2 Los Angeles Legends 9 12 2
L 0 2 3 5 4 6 7
T 3 6 6 3 5 4 3
GF 26 16 12 16 15 13 15
GA 9 13 15 15 19 22 20
W 6 2 1 2 2 1 2
L 0 1 0 3 0 4 3
T GF GA 0 17 3 3 8 4 5 7 5 1 9 8 4 8 5 1 8 12 1 10 9
W 3 2 2 2 1 1 0
L 0 1 3 2 4 2 4
T GF GA 3 9 6 3 8 9 1 5 10 2 7 7 1 7 14 3 5 10 2 5 11
USLsoccer.com
GF GA 18 4 20 8 12 6 8 12 13 17 9 13 4 29 2 28
2009 W-League Playoff Results Central Conference
Eastern Conference
Divisional Round
Conference Playoffs
Great Lakes Division - Wednesday, July 22
Semifinals - Friday, July 24 (Atlanta, Georgia)
Quebec City Amiral 0 :: 5 Buffalo Flash BUF: Ruiz (Wagenfuhr) 26 BUF: Sutton (O’Rourke) 34 BUF: Sutton (Ruiz) 60 BUF: Lacek 79 BUF: Craft (Barbuto) 81
Tampa Bay Hellenic 1 :: 2 Washington Freedom WAS: Tegeler 42 TB: Gordon (Curvelo) 58 WAS: Lenczyck (Matute) 67
Conference Playoffs Semifinals - Friday, July 24 (Lafayette, Indiana) Buffalo Flash 0 :: 3 FC Indiana Lionesses IND: Leyva 13 IND: Del Rio (Ocampo) 26 IND: Leyva (penalty) 45 Chicago Red Eleven 2 :: 4 Ottawa Fury CHI: Davidson 11 OTT: Evans 20 OTT: Hearn 31 OTT: Hearn 76 OTT: Romagnuolo (Hearn) 82 CHI: Cooper 90
Charlotte Lady Eagles 2 :: 1 Atlanta Silverbacks ATL: Hall (Joyner) 76 CHA: Ozimek 85 CHA: Ozimek 88 Final - Saturday, July 25 Charlotte Lady Eagles 1 :: 2 Washington Freedom CHA: Swinehart 25 WAS: Lemczyck (Miskel) 76 WAS: Tegeler (Menchel) 85
Final - Sunday, July 26 Ottawa Fury 2 :: 1 FC Indiana Lionesses IND: Lyons 11 OTT: Own goal 14 OTT: Own goal 65
Western Conference Final - Saturday, July 25 Colorado Force 2 :: 5 Pali Blues PAL: Press (Mora)11 COL: Marshall (Powell) 60 COL: Marshall (Franke) 72 PAL: Press 75 PAL: O’Hara (Cheney) 88 PAL: Mora 90 PAL: Mora 90+
Overall Playoff Seeding # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Team Hudson Valley FC Indiana Washington Chicago Atlanta Ottawa Pali Tampa Bay Buffalo Quebec City Charlotte Colorado
USLsoccer.com
Record 12-0-2 10-0-2 12-1-1 10-1-1 10-1-1 11-1-2 9-0-3 8-1-3 9-2-3 9-4-1 6-3-3 4-2-6
Pts 38 32 37 31 31 35 30 27 30 28 21 18
Pts % .905 .889 .881 .861 .861 .833 .833 .750 .714 .667 .583 .500
Pali Blues Current Player Roster
No. Pos Player DOB International Previous W-League Experience 4 D Anderson-Hammond, Jenny 4.25.83 USA Chicago 2008, Charlotte 2007 D Billingsley, Kendal 4.4.83 USA D Bosio, Daniella 12.18.83 USA 20 F Brown, Rebecca 12.9.89 USA F Browne, Lindsay 11.1.81 USA San Diego 2006, Asheville 2004 25 D Cargnoni, Jayme 7.13.84 USA San Diego 2007, Carolina 2005-06 5 D Carron, Jacqueline 9.1.88 USA Mile High 2006, 08 8 F Cheney, Lauren 9.30.87 USA F DeMonte, Sabrina 7.29.84 USA 9 D Engen, Whitney 11.28.87 USA 24 G Gay, Adelaide 11.3.89 USA 18 G Harris, Ashlyn 10.19.85 USA 29 D Hayes, Melissa 4.22.88 USA 28 F Klopschinski, Lee 10.7.84 USA 10 F Mora, Iris 9.22.81 Mexico Kansas City 2002, New Brunswick 2000 22 M Nogueira, Mariah 2.22.91 USA 12 M O’Hara, Kelley 8.4.88 USA F Patrick, Rebekah 8.25.83 USA San Diego 2007 23 M Press, Christen 12.29.88 USA 3 D Riley, Alexandra 10.30.87 USA 1 G Slovek, Joslyn 12.9.85 USA Ventura County 2008 7 M Stephan, Ella 11.27.89 USA Boston 2008, Cocoa 2006 19 D Tapscott, Leah 1.9.84 USA Pali 2008, Jersey 2007, Chicago 2001 14 M Taylor, Jodie 5.17.86 England Ottawa 2007-08, Boston 2006 26 M Washington, Nikki 8.1.88 USA 6 M Yallop, Kirsty 11.4.86 New Zealand Head Coach: Charlie Naimo - Eighth Year (76-12-4 regular season, 11-2-2 playoffs) Previous Clubs: Jersey 2007, New Jersey 2003-06, New Brunswick 2000, Central Jersey 1999
Team W-League History... Year League W-L-D 2009 W 9-0-3 2008 W 12-0-0
Pts 30 36
PO 2-0 2-0
Result TBD Won W-League Championship
2009 Results
Date Opponent Result 5/9 Los Angeles 2-1 W 5/17 Real Colorado 2-0 W 6/5 @ Seattle 2-2 D 6/7 @ Vancouver 1-1 D 6/12 @ Real Colorado 1-0 W 6/14 @ Colorado 0-0 D 6/23 Vancouver 2-1 W 6/27 @ Ventura County 2-1 W 7/1 @ Los Angeles 3-2 W 7/5 Ventura County 4-0 W 7/10 Colorado 3-0 W 7/18 Seattle 4-1 W -------- Playoffs -------7/25 Colorado 5-2 W 7/31 @ Hudson Valley 4-0 W
Taylor 14, Wynne 51 Mora 35, Lang 37 - Slovek SO Cheney 38, 72 Mora 54 Yallop 9 - Harris SO Washington 56, Press 87 O’Hara 32, Press 64 Mora 11, O’Hara 13, Washington 38 Heath 33, Washington 51, O’Hara 60, Mora 74 Mora 4, Washington 15, 52 O’Hara 45, Taylor 52, 54, Press 89 Press 11, 75, O’Hara, Mora 90, 90 Taylor 14, Mora 45, O’Hara 50, Cheney 65
Regular Season Stats...
Player GP Min G A Pts S F Mora, Iris 11 946 5 6 16 13 13 Washington, Madeline 9 624 5 2 12 11 3 O’Hara, Kelley 6 508 4 0 8 17 4 Press, Christen 6 443 3 1 7 7 4 Taylor, Jodie 3 270 3 1 7 9 0 Cheney, Lauren 10 809 2 2 6 27 4 Yallop, Kirsty 10 629 1 1 3 9 5 Wynne, Emily 6 233 1 1 3 6 0 Heath, Tobin 6 528 1 0 2 5 5 Lang, Kara 3 188 1 0 2 2 1 Tapscott, Leah 12 1013 0 0 0 2 11 Anderson-Hammond, Jenny 8 698 0 0 0 3 1 Engen, Whitney 8 635 0 0 0 2 1 Riley, Alexandra 7 625 0 0 0 1 3 Young, Bonnie 7 572 0 0 0 4 0 Hayes, Melissa 9 454 0 0 0 0 2 Stephan, Ella 7 414 0 0 0 0 2 Harris, Ashlyn 5 383 0 0 0 0 1 Slovek, Joslyn 4 360 0 0 0 0 0 McNamara, Beth 5 358 0 0 0 1 2 Carron, Jacqueline 7 274 0 0 0 0 0 Olsen, Kristin 3 225 0 0 0 0 0 Gay, Adelaide 2 112 0 0 0 0 0 Nogueira, Mariah 3 109 0 0 0 0 0 Brown, Rebecca 6 98 0 0 0 4 2 Hardy, Erin 1 90 0 0 0 0 0 Cargnoni, Jayme 2 72 0 0 0 0 0 Riviere, Karyn 3 64 0 0 0 0 0 Blosser, Caitlin 2 50 0 0 0 1 1 Janke, Erica 1 45 0 0 0 0 0 Mackechnie, Caitlyn 1 45 0 0 0 0 0 Lisberger, Amanda 1 12 0 0 0 1 1 Calvert, Catherine 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 Player GP Min GA GAA W L T SO Sv Sh Harris, Ashlyn 5 383 3 0.704 3 0 1 2 16 34 Olsen, Kristin 3 225 2 0.8 1 0 1 0 6 19 Slovek, Joslyn 4 360 4 1 4 0 0 1 15 30
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Washington Freedom Current Player Roster
No. Pos Player 17 D Allen, Molly 55 G Bennett Hattan, Eliza 25 M Bowers, Kristin 26 D Collins, Caitlin 19 M Edwards, Becky 3 M Germain, Kimberly 5 D Grant, Jordan 13 D Keller, Madison 16 D Lancos, Julia 40 F Latour, Yvonne 21 F Lenczyck, Meghan 11 M Matute, Sandra 14 F McCarty, Tiffany 22 F Menchel, Molly 7 F Miskel, Caitlin 10 M Nairn, Christine 4 D Osher, Mara 2 M Parsons, Jennifer 1 G Pont, Alyssa 32 D Pressley, Toni 18 G Sandiford, Chante 8 F Tegeler, Brittany 20 D Toulouse, Gabriella 9 F Watson, Katherine 6 M Wolfe, Jesstine
DOB 12.17.90 8.28.87 10.21.88 8.7.87 5.22.88 4.14.87 10.14.89 12.30.87 10.22.89 10.30.91 3.15.89 11.3.82 12.14.90 12.5.91 11.10.87 9.25.90 12.26.87 9.16.83 10.22.88 2.19.90 1.8.90 1.17.87 5.3.89 9.23.86 9.24.87
International Previous W-League Experience Canada USA Washington 2008 USA Northern Virginia 2005 USA USA Jersey 2007, New Jersey 2006 USA Northern Virginia 2006-08 USA Washington 2008 USA Washington 2008 USA New Jersey 2006 USA USA Washington 2008 France USA Washington 2007-08 USA USA USA USA Canada Washington 2008, Richmond 2004-07 USA Fredericksburg 2007 USA Boston 2008 USA Washington 2007-08 USA USA Northern Virginia 2008 USA Northern Virginia 2008, Washington 2007 USA
Head Coach: Winn Puffer - First Year (12-1-1 regular season, 2-0-1 playoffs)
Team W-League History... Year 2009 2008 2007
League W W W
W-L-D 12-1-1 11-1-2 11-0-1
Pts 37 35 34
PO 2-0-1 3-1-0 4-0-0
Result TBD Won Third Place match Won W-League Championship
2009 Results
Date Opponent Result 5/9 @ Boston 1-0 W 5/30 @ Long Island 3-1 W 5/31 @ Hudson Valley 2-4 L 6/13 Western Mass 4-0 W 6/20 New York 9-0 W 6/21 New Jersey 3-0 W 6/27 @ Western Mass 3-0 W 6/28 @ Connecticut 4-3 W 7/1 Boston 2-1 W 7/5 @ New York 4-0 W 7/11 @ New Jersey 3-0 W 7/16 Hudson Valley 0-0 D 7/18 Connecticut 4-0 W 7/19 Long Island 7-0 W -------- Playoffs -------7/24 v Tampa Bay 2-1 W 7/24 v Charlotte 2-1 W 8/1 Ottawa 0-0 D (3-1 PKW)
Matute pen. 58 - Pont SO Lenczyck 4, Germain 52, Parsons 57 Tegeler 29, 75 Tegeler 36, 49, Parsons 40, McCarty 83 Lenczyck 5, Tegeler 27, 48, Osher 31, Parsons 55, 69, 82, Wolfe 66, Menchel 71 - Sandiford SO
Tegeler 33, Matute 45, Miskel 84 Lenczyck 71, 73, Miskel pen. 79 - Bennett Lenczyck 11, Menchel 54, 83, Miskel pen. 87 Parsons 34, 80 Matute pen. 24, Tegeler 28, Lenczyck 79, Parsons 83 - Pont SO Parsons 26, 90, Miskel 54 Sandiford SO Lenczyck 33, 59, Miskel 44, Parsons 58 Germain 13, Menchel 24, 54, Miskel pen. 65, Watson 69, Parsons 87, Lenczyck 90 - Sandiford SO
Tegeler 42, Lenczyck 67 Lenczyck 76, Tegeler 85 Sandiford SO
Regular Season Stats... Player Parsons, Jennifer Lenczyk, Meghan Tegeler, Brittany Matute, Sandra Menchel, Molly Miskel, Caitlin Germain, Kimberly Osher, Mara Wolfe, Jesstine McCarty, Tiffany Watson, Katherine Nairn, Christine Pressley, Toni Grant, Jordan Edwards, Becky Mirarchi, Kara Chang, Brook Latour, Yvonne Bowers, Kristin Schoepfer, Katie Cords, Angelina Collins, Caitlin Allen, Molly Cargnoni, Jayme Bennett Hattan, Eliza Keller, Madison Pont, Alyssa Sandiford, Chante Toulouse, Gabriella Lancos, Julia
GP 14 13 12 12 7 12 13 11 11 3 13 4 8 12 12 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 4 3 3 3 5 10 12 13
Player GP Min Bennett Hattan, Eliza 3 203 Pont, Alyssa 5 331 Sandiford, Chante 9 726
USLsoccer.com
Min G A Pts S F 1133 12 6 30 41 4 893 9 3 21 30 8 874 8 5 21 31 5 919 3 8 14 13 7 302 5 2 12 10 1 623 5 2 12 13 6 620 2 1 5 7 1 763 1 3 5 5 2 377 2 0 4 5 7 262 1 2 4 8 2 455 1 1 3 11 1 360 0 1 1 7 1 693 0 1 1 6 4 788 0 1 1 4 0 878 0 1 1 6 2 8 0 0 0 1 1 12 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0 0 57 0 0 0 0 0 82 0 0 0 0 0 90 0 0 0 0 0 133 0 0 0 0 3 134 0 0 0 1 1 203 0 0 0 0 0 270 0 0 0 0 1 331 0 0 0 0 0 730 0 0 0 0 0 819 0 0 0 3 3 1071 0 0 0 2 6
GA GAA W 1 0.443 2 4 1.087 3 4 0.495 7
L T SO 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 1 4
Sv 9 13 38
Sh 16 35 57
2009 W-League Statistical Leaders & Awards Point Leaders Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 14 15 16 17 19
Points 40 36 31 30 29 28 27 27 23 22 21 21 21 20 19 18 17 17 16 16
GP Player Name 11 Del Rio, Laura 13 Johansson, Angelika 11 Woods, Lisa-Marie 14 Parsons, Jennifer 10 Lyons, Nikki 14 Hearn, Amber 9 Ocampo, Monica 12 Smith, Caroline 12 Julien, Christina 12 Ruiz, Maria (Mery) 11 Velaj, Furtuna 12 Tegeler, Brittany 13 Lenczyk, Meghan 11 Rife, Christine 12 Palmer, Whitney 14 Tantillo, Rosa Anna 12 Tomlinson, Megan 14 Evans, Michelle 9 Switzer, Lauren 11 Mora, Iris
Team FC Indiana Hudson Valley FC Indiana Washington FC Indiana Ottawa FC Indiana Minnesota Laval Buffalo Connecticut Washington Washington Charlotte Hudson Valley Buffalo Atlanta Ottawa Chicago Pali
Goal Leaders
Rank Goals GP Player Name 1 18 11 Del Rio, Laura 2 14 10 Lyons, Nikki 14 13 Johansson, Angelika 4 13 12 Smith, Caroline 13 14 Hearn, Amber 6 12 14 Parsons, Jennifer 7 11 11 Woods, Lisa-Marie 11 12 Julien, Christina 9 9 Five players tied
Team FC Indiana FC Indiana Hudson Valley Minnesota Ottawa Washington FC Indiana Laval
Assist Leaders Rank Assists GP 1 11 9 2 9 11 3 8 12 8 13 5 6 11 6 14 7 5 7 5 8 5 12 5 12
Player Name Ocampo, Monica Woods, Lisa-Marie Matute, Sandra Johansson, Angelika Mora, Iris Parsons, Jennifer Abdullah, Ameera Iman McConnell, Kelly Tegeler, Brittany Tomlinson, Megan
Team FC Indiana FC Indiana Washington Hudson Valley Pali Washington Buffalo Long Island Washington Atlanta
2009 W-League Statistical Awards Scoring Champion: Laura Del Rio (FC Indiana Lionesses) Goal Scoring Champion: Laura Del Rio (FC Indiana Lionesses) Assist Leader: Monica Ocampo (FC Indiana Lionesses) GAA Champion: Shannon Lynn (FC Indiana Lionesses)
GAA Leaders (minimum 550 minutes played) Rank 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10
GAA 0.166 0.188 0.400 0.400 0.495 0.596 0.714 0.770 0.857 0.900
GP Player Team 12 Lynn, Shannon FC Indiana 11 Betos, Michelle Atlanta 11 Lofton-Malachi, Mallori Tampa Bay 11 McNulty, Erin Hudson Valley 10 Sandiford, Chante Washington 9 Carstens, Lindsey Chicago 14 Becker, Amanda Buffalo 11 Phillips, Jasmine Ottawa 7 Richard, Geneviève Laval 10 Hultin, Katie Seattle
2009 W-League All-League Team G - Michelle Betos (Atlanta Silverbacks) D - Ashleigh Gunning (Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues) D - Ria Percival (Ottawa Fury) D - Brittany Taylor (Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues) M - Gemma Davidson (Chicago Red Eleven) M - Michelle French (Seattle Sounders) M - Rosa Tantillo (Buffalo Flash) M - Nikki Washington (Pali Blues) F - Laura Del Rio (FC Indiana Lionesses) F - Amber Hearn (Ottawa Fury) F - Angelika Johansson (Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues)
2009 W-League All-Conference Teams Central Conference G - Shannon Lynn (FC Indiana Lionesses) D - Jenny Jeffers (Chicago Red Eleven) D - Ria Percival (Ottawa Fury) D - Clare Rustad (Toronto Lady Lynx) M - Gemma Davidson (Chicago Red Eleven) M - Jennifer Hance (Ottawa Fury) M - Fatima Leyva (FC Indiana Lionesses) M - Rosa Tantillo (Buffalo Flash) F - Laura Del Rio (FC Indiana Lionesses) F - Amber Hearn (Ottawa Fury) F - Caroline Smith (Minnesota Lightning) Eastern Conference G - Michelle Bentos (Atlanta Silverbacks) D - Casey Brown (Boston Renegades) D - Ashleigh Gunning (Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues) D - Philisha Lewis (Tampa Bay Hellenic) D - Brittany Taylor (Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues) M - Lindsay Ozimek (Charlotte Lady Eagles) M - Christine Rife (Charlotte Lady Eagles) M - Megan Tomlinson (Atlanta Silverbacks) F - Angelika Johansson (Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues) F - Jen Parsons (Washington Freedom) F - Brittany Tegeler (Washington Freedom) Western Conference G - Katie Hultin (Seattle Sounders) D - Jenea Gibbons (Los Angeles Legends) D - Kelli Smith (Seattle Sounders) D - Leah Tapscott (Pali Blues) M - Michelle French (Seattle Sounders) M - Tobin Heath (Pali Blues) M - Nikki Marshall (Colorado Force) M - Carmelina Moscato (Vancouver Whitecaps) M - Nikki Washington (Pali Blues) F - Iris Mora (Pali Blues) F - Jodi Ann Robinson (Vancouver Whitecaps)
USLsoccer.com
The W-League is...
The original and longest-standing women’s league in North America, the W-League is USL’s highest level of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The 2009 USL W-League campaign features 37 teams in four regional conferences playing 12 or 14 regular season matches. In addition to the league featuring international and professional stars, elite collegiate players have the opportunity to also compete on amateur teams in the league while maintaining their collegiate eligibility. The league is recognized throughout the world for providing elite competition for female players, while providing affordable family entertainment for fans across North America.
Player Advancement
The Birth of Women’s Soccer
In 1995, United Soccer Leagues served as the originators of elite women’s club soccer with the launch of the W-League, featuring numerous US internationals among the team rosters. The league continued to serve as the world’s top league prior to the launch of the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) in 2001, converting into a more developmental role. With the departure of the WUSA in 2003, the W-League once again rose to the top among domestic leagues in North America and rivals the quality of the elite leagues in Europe. The success of the league assisted in the continued nurturing of the women’s sport on the club level for the eventual creation of Women’s Professional Soccer.
Since 1995, the W-League has been the leading developer of world-class talent for the professional ranks. A testament to the W-League is the fact that over 100 USL W-League players were chosen by recently created WPS teams. Historically, the same incorporation of W-League alumni occurred with the launch of the WUSA in 2001 as a total of 92 current and former W-League players were allocated or drafted by the league leading up to the first of its three seasons. Over the years, the W-League has also served as a home for developing players for international play with many participating with youth and senior national teams around the globe from FIFA Youth World Championship events to the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The USL W-League truly is the at the forefront of women’s soccer not only domestically, but internationally.
USL W-League
Teams
Atlanta Silverbacks Women Boston Renegades Buffalo Flash Cary Lady Clarets Charlotte Lady Eagles Chicago Red Eleven Cleveland Internationals Colorado Force Connecticut Passion FC Indiana Lionesses Fort Wayne Fever Hamilton Avalanche Hampton Roads Piranhas Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues Kalamazoo Outrage Laval Comets London Gryphons Long Island Rough Riders Los Angeles Legends
Minnesota Lightning New Jersey Wildcats New York Magic Northern Virginia Majestics Ottawa Fury Pali Blues Quebec City Amiral Real Colorado Cougars Richmond Kickers Destiny Rochester Ravens FC Seattle Sounders Women Tampa Bay Hellenic Toronto Lady Lynx Vancouver Whitecaps Ventura County Fusion Washington Freedom West Michigan Firewomen Western Mass Lady Pioneers
Professional Play
Although the majority of teams in the W-League contain strictly amateur players, over the past few years several franchises have launched professional teams in the league, creating a complete professional environment for players aspiring for the higher levels of the game. This, in turn, allows the amateur players on opposing teams to gain further experience during league play per collegiate regulations that permit players on amateur teams to compete against professionals as long as they are not on teams that have paid professionals. The FC Indiana Lionesses were the first side to debut as a professional W-League team in 2008 with the Buffalo Flash slated for 2009.
Play With
Passion
In the shadow of a successful professional men’s team, its not often that a women’s side shines just as equally. In Vancouver, the passion of the supporters for the women’s game has served as one of those rare occasions where gender equality in sports has occurred. Since the launch of the Whitecaps women’s team in 2001, the club has placed an emphasis on treating both the W-League and USL First Division teams equally and that has translated to the support off the field. The Whitecaps women have handily been league leaders in attendance for years with a crowd that has quite a variance from the supporters of the men’s team. On the field, the W-League side did what the men’s team previously couldn’t when they won the first of two league championships in 2004. In 2006, they captured the second just months before the Whitecaps won their first USL-1 title in 14 years. From the team’s founding in 2001 to 2006, the Whitecaps women lost only four regular season games in 78 matches.
W-League