The rate of W-League expansion and the desire among many owners to take their teams to new heights led to the creation of the W-1 and W-2 leagues beginning in 1998. W-1 consisted of many of the league’s clubs who were successful on and off the field with W-2 featuring new and rising franchises.

The league’s top teams proved to be very competitive with one another with the expansion Raleigh Wings proving the lone exception as they finished the campaign a perfect 14-0 to advance to the postseason, outscoring the opposition 58-9 along the way. Not surprisingly, they dispatched the Atlanta Classics in the divisional playoff 2-1 to reach the W-1 Semifinals.

A three-team tie at 11-3 in the Central Division left the Denver Diamonds on the outside of the tiebreaker for the playoff spots. The runner-up New Jersey Lady Stallions would claim the divisional title with a 1-0 win over the Chicago Cobras to reach the semifinals.

With the 11-3 Boston Renegades hosting the championship final four, the Maryland Pride eliminated the 10-4 Long Island Lady Riders to join the three other remaining contenders.

The host Renegades blanked New Jersey 2-0 to advance to the final while in the other semifinal the Pride proved to be no contest for the Wings as they would find their way to the consolation match for the second straight year, falling 5-0 to Raleigh. Maryland would be unable to repeat their third place finish, falling in a shootout to the Lady Stallions after a scoreless draw.

In the W-1 Championship, the Wings gave up three goals in a game for the first time all season, but Boston’s defense, which had allowed only two or more goals to the opposition in two of its losses on the campaign was no match for the potent Raleigh offense, which had scored at least three goals in 11 of their 16 matches, including playoffs. The first-year Wings would win a 4-3 thriller to capture the W-1 title.

The understudy W-2 saw the New York Magic, Miami Gliders and Cleveland Eclipse ride out to regular season division titles, but the postseason belonged to the lower seeds, however.

The second-seeded Miami Breakers would advance to the W-2 Championship final four as hosts of the event, and the 5-7 Hampton Roads Piranhas would join them from the South.

New York would advance through to the W-2 Semifinals with a 1-0 victory over the 6-6 Finger Lakes Heartbreakers in the North Division Final while Cleveland would find themselves on the wrong side of a 1-0 decision against the 7-5 Fort Collins Force in the Central.

The Piranhas would shock New York 2-1 in the semifinals while Fort Collins kept their upset run going with a stunning 4-0 thumping of host Miami in the other half of the bracket. New York salvaged the weekend with a 3-0 victory for third.

Fort Collins completed the magical run with a 3-1 victory over Hampton Roads in the championship, sending a W-League title west of the Mississippi for the first time in league history.