The Raleigh Wings became the first W-League team to ever repeat as champions when they battled back from two goals down to sneak past the previously undefeated Chicago Cobras in a shootout. The victory capped a 13-1 regular season and gave the Wings an all-time record, including postseason games, of 32-1 in their brief two-year history.

The Cobras, featuring Canadian international Charmaine Hooper and W-1 Most Valuable Player and Goalkeeper of the Year Danielle Dion, were attempting to duplicate Raleigh’s perfect 17-0 season of a year prior, after racing through the regular season with 14 straight victories by an astounding aggregate score of 54-4.

But, former US National Team forward Wendy Gebauer cut a 2-0 deficit in half just before the intermission and current US international striker Cindy Parlow equalized for the Wings midway through the second half. Megan Jeidy’s sixth-round shootout attempt was successful and Raleigh goalkeeper Siri Mullinix stopped Chicago’s Courtney Linex to return the W-1 title to North Carolina.

The W-1 league also saw successful expansion into Canada in 1999 as franchises in Toronto and Laval joined the league. The Fort Collins Force also joined W-1 after winning the inaugural W-2 Championship in 1998, a path the 1999 W-2 Champion Texas Heat would also take.

The Heat, the first USL team to be owned by a state soccer association, battled the host Springfield Sirens in the Final that stood at 1-1 until halftime following early strikes. But, 10 minutes into the second half, North Texas broke the game open with four goals in 18 minutes, including a pair by Kim Brown and the 55th minute game-winner by the game’s Most Valuable Player, Nikki Tompkins.

North Texas’ victory put a damper on the championship weekend in Springfield, Massachusetts, which attracted more than 5,500 fans for the two-day event, including a championship game crowd of 3,282.

The Indiana Blaze’s Joy Aschenbrenner was named the W-2 Most Valuable Player for the season in 1999. She led the Blaze to their first playoff appearance while finishing second in league points (28) and goals (13).