With everything on the line, it is easy to see how rivalries can be born from championship events between teams that rarely see one another. The W-League championship in 2005 lived up to the anticipation with three of the four finalists returning along with a newcomer crashing the party.

The New Jersey Wildcats, Ottawa Fury and defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps posted 13-1-0 seasons en route to the postseason with the first-year Central Florida Kraze making an impressive debut at 11-3-0 and working their way through a difficult playoff slate.

With US internationals Danielle Fotopoulos and Heather Mitts in the fold along with three other former WUSA players, the Kraze got off to a fast start with seven wins on their way to a second-place finish behind the perennial contender Charlotte Lady Eagles, who finally got back to the top of the Atlantic Division for the first time since 2002 after playing second fiddle to the Hampton Roads Piranhas.

Central Florida had to contend with the second-year Detroit Jaguars (now Michigan Hawks), who moved from third to first in the Midwest, in the first round however. The Jaguars took an early lead on a goal from W-League MVP Melissa Dobbyn 11 minutes in only to see Fotopoulos tally three straight for a commanding lead that a second Dobbyn strike proved not to be enough. The Kraze then edged the Lady Eagles 1-0 in the conference final for a spot at the W-League Championship.

The Whitecaps won the Western Conference regular season title for the fifth straight year despite increased competition from the 10-4-0 Mile High Edge and 10-3-1 Arizona Heatwave, who they downed in the playoffs 4-0 to move onto the W-League Championship. Rival Seattle was the only team to down the ‘Caps with a 2-0 win early in the season.

The Ottawa Fury advanced to the W-League Championship for the third straight season after suffering their only loss of the season three games in to the Vermont Lady Voltage. The highlight of the year came in the season finale when they handed New Jersey their first loss in two seasons 1-0. The Fury then cruised through the conference playoffs with a dominating 5-1 win over the Long Island Lady Riders and a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Lady Lynx to advance to the finals.

At the W-League Championship the Fury were nearly ousted in the semis for a third straight year, but edged the Kraze 2-1 in overtime to advance to the Final while New Jersey and Vancouver squared off in the other semi in a rematch of the 2004 championship that saw two unbeatens forced to penalties to decide a champion.

New Jersey, fresh from their loss in Ottawa had plenty of motivation with a year’s worth of steam over their loss to Vancouver in penalties ready to be released. Amber Allen stunned the home crowd with a goal less than a minute in, but Kacey White answered seven minutes later. White and US international Christie Welsh would finish with a goal and assist each as the pair teams up again in the second half for the winner, setting up a chance at vengeance with Ottawa. Vancouver would go on to top the Kraze 3-1 for third.

Welsh found England international Rachel Unitt 13 minutes in to the championship for an early lead and the defense clamped down on the league’s top offense for a shutout as White added a penalty and an assist on a goal from US international Heather O’Reilly in the second half to give the Wildcats their first title, a long awaited moment.