2010 W-League (North America)

The 2010 W-League Season will be the league's 16th. The regular season will begin in May and end in July. The playoffs will begin in late July and end in August.

Changes from 2009 season

Name Changes

Two teams changed their name in the off-season:

Team Name Metro Area Previous Name
Santa Clarita Blue Heat Los Angeles area Ventura County Fusion
Washington Freedom Futures Washington, D.C. area Washington Freedom Reserves

Expansion Teams

Three teams were added for the season:

Team Name Metro Area Location Previous Affiliation
Colorado Rush Women Denver area Denver, CO expansion
New Jersey Rangers North Jersey area Denville, NJ expansion
North Jersey Valkyries North Jersey area Wayne, NJ expansion

Teams Leaving

10 teams folded after the 2009 season:

Standings

Orange indicates W-League title and bye into W-League semifinals.
Purple indicates division title clinched
Green indicates playoff berth clinched
Yellow indicates team would qualify for playoffs in current position
Red indicates team is eliminated from playoffs

Central Conference

Great Lakes Division

Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Ottawa Fury Women 12 8 1 3 25 5 +20 27
2 Toronto Lady Lynx 12 7 2 3 15 6 +9 24
3 Laval Comets 12 6 3 3 17 10 +7 21
4 Quebec City Amiral SC 12 6 4 2 16 12 +4 20
5 Rochester Ravens 12 2 9 1 8 24 -16 7
6 Hamilton Avalanche 12 1 11 0 5 29 -24 3

Midwest Division

Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Buffalo Flash 12 10 0 2 48 5 +43 32
2 Chicago Red Eleven 12 8 2 2 32 8 +24 26
3 Kalamazoo Outrage 12 4 7 1 18 26 -8 13
4 Cleveland Internationals Women 12 3 8 1 16 39 -23 10
5 London Gryphons 12 1 9 2 6 25 -19 5

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division
Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Atlanta Silverbacks Women 10 7 2 1 22 7 +15 22
2 Charlotte Lady Eagles 10 5 3 2 15 4 +11 17
3 Tampa Bay Hellenic 10 5 4 1 12 13 -1 16
4 Hampton Roads Piranhas 10 2 6 2 7 21 -14 8
5 Northern Virginia Majestics 10 2 8 0 6 25 -19 6
Northeast Division
Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues 12 11 1 0 26 9 +17 33
2 Washington Freedom Futures 12 10 1 1 29 7 +22 31
3 New Jersey Wildcats 12 7 4 1 22 16 +6 22
4 Long Island Rough Riders 12 7 5 0 23 14 +9 21
5 New Jersey Rangers 12 4 8 0 16 30 -14 12
6 New York Magic 12 3 9 0 23 30 -7 9
7 North Jersey Valkyries 12 0 12 0 5 30 -25 0

Western Conference

Place Team P W L T GF GA GD Points
1 Vancouver Whitecaps Women 10 6 0 4 20 9 +11 22
2 Pali Blues 10 3 4 3 16 14 +2 12
3 Seattle Sounders Women 10 2 2 6 12 12 0 12
4 Colorado Rush Women 10 2 2 6 10 12 -2 12
5 Santa Clarita Blue Heat 10 2 6 2 6 16 -10 8
6 Colorado Force 10 2 3 5 11 12 -1 7*

Note: Colorado Force deducted 4 points.

Playoffs

Format

The W-League champion will earn an automatic bye into the W-League Semifinals, with the highest-placed team in the division not making the playoffs will earn a playoff berth.

The Central Conference will have 5 playoff spots. The second and third place teams from the Great Lakes Division will play each other. The winner will play the Midwest Division champions, while the Great Lakes Division champion will play the second place team of the Midwest Division. The winners of those games will play to determine the conference champion. The Eastern Conference division champions will play the second place team of the opposite division, the winners facing off to determine who goes to the W-League Semifinals. The Western Conference will have their top two teams facing off to determine their conference champion.

The W-League Semifinals will put the regular season champion against the lowest seeded conference champion, and the higher-ranked conference champions against each other. The winners of these games will play in the championship.

Conference Brackets

Central Conference

  Central Divisional Round     Central Semifinals     Central Championship
                           
        MW1  New York Buffalo Flash 3  
  GL2  Ontario Toronto Lady Lynx 2     GL2  Ontario Toronto Lady Lynx 0    
  GL3  Quebec Laval Comets 0         MW1  New York Buffalo Flash 1
      GL1  Ontario Ottawa Fury Women 0
        GL1  Ontario Ottawa Fury Women 2    
        MW2  Illinois Chicago Red Eleven 0  

Eastern Conference

Eastern Semifinals Eastern Championship
      
AT1 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women 5
NE2 New Jersey New Jersey Wildcats 1
AT1 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women 1
AT2 North Carolina Charlotte Lady Eagles 0
NE1 Washington, D.C. Washington Freedom Futures 2 (5)
AT2 North Carolina Charlotte Lady Eagles (AET/PSO) 2 (6)

Western Conference

Western Finals
   
W1 British Columbia Vancouver Whitecaps Women 2
W2 California Pali Blues 1

W-League Championship Bracket

  W-League Semifinal                    
  MW1  New York Buffalo Flash 3  
  AT1  Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women 1   W-League Championship
      MW1  New York Buffalo Flash 3
  W-League Semifinal   W1  British Columbia Vancouver Whitecaps Women 1
  WL  New York Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues 1
  W1  British Columbia Vancouver Whitecaps Women 3   W-League Third Place
    WL  New York Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues 3
    AT1  Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women 0

Divisional Round

July 21, 2010
3:30 PM EDT
Quebec Laval Comets 0 - 2 Ontario Toronto Lady Lynx
Pinard  88' (Report) Puopolo  12'
Mottershead  25'
Oduro  80'
Centennial Park Stadium
Etobicoke, ON
Attendance: 50
Referee: Ihor Bokiy(CAN)

Conference Semifinals

July 23, 2010
5:00 PM EDT
North Carolina Charlotte Lady Eagles 2 - 2
(a.e.t.) 		Washington, D.C. Washington Freedom Futures
Bellingham  81'  120' Lenczyk  69'
Velaj  109'
  Penalties  







Lyle 		6 - 5






RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium
Atlanta, GA
Referee: Tony Russo (USA)

July 23, 2010
7:30 PM EDT
New Jersey New Jersey Wildcats 1 - 5 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Brandao  71' (Report) Frierson  22'  38'
Tomlinson  45'
Newfield  69'
Harbrueger  81'  84'
RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium
Atlanta, GA
Referee: Amy Mahan (USA)

July 24, 2010
5:30 PM EDT
Ontario Toronto Lady Lynx 0 - 3 New York Buffalo Flash
Afonso  28' (Report) Boquete  20'  41'
Parker  69'
Niagara Field
Lewiston, NY
Attendance: 125
Referee: John Safar (USA)

July 24, 2010
8:00 PM EDT
Illinois Chicago Red Eleven 0 - 2 Ontario Ottawa Fury Women
Kabellis  90' (Report) Evans  11'  71'
Hearn  45'
Taylor  67'
Niagara Field
Lewiston, NY
Attendance: 75
Referee: Pat Road (USA)

Conference Finals

July 24, 2010
7:30 PM EDT
North Carolina Charlotte Lady Eagles 0 - 1 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women
(Report) Garman  41'
Powell  44'
RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium
Atlanta, GA
Referee: Veronica Brito (USA)

July 24, 2010
7:00 PM PDT
California Pali Blues 1 - 2 British Columbia Vancouver Whitecaps Women
Shaner  58'
Gama  61' 		(Report) Tancredi  35'
Vermeulen  41'
Zurrer  68'
Kyle  90'
Swangard Stadium
Burnaby, BC
Attendance: 1,712
Referee: Michelle Pye (CAN)

July 25, 2010
6:00 PM EDT
Ontario Ottawa Fury Women 0 - 1 New York Buffalo Flash
Romagnuolo  57'
Wetzel Yellow cardYellow cardRed card 89', 90+' 		(Report) Parker  20'
Boquete  83'
Niagara Field
Lewiston, NY
Attendance: 155
Referee: Steve Montanino (USA)

W-League Semifinals

July 29, 2010
2:00 PM PDT
Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks Women 1 - 3 New York Buffalo Flash
Powell  36' (Report) Hammond  18'
Parker  53'  81'
Harry Welch Stadium
Santa Clarita, CA
Referee: Magic Berenji (USA)

July 29, 2010
5:00 PM PDT
British Columbia Vancouver Whitecaps Women 3 - 1 New York Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues
Kyle  4'
Franko  13'
Stewart  57'
Booth  76' 		(Report) Edmonds  57'
Demoner  85'
Harry Welch Stadium
Santa Clarita, CA
Attendance: 302
Referee: Ryan Van Dyne (USA)

W-League Third Place

W-League Championship

July 31, 2010
4:00 PM PDT
British Columbia Vancouver Whitecaps Women 1 - 3 New York Buffalo Flash
Vermeulen  53'  57' (Report) Davison  61'
Boquete  64'  88'
Harry Welch Stadium
Santa Clarita, CA
Attendance: 362
Referee: Felisha Mariscal (USA)

See also

References