The league’s expansion in California boomed, and with successful coach Charlie Naimo making the switch in coasts, it was not surprising that the championship would find its way to the Golden State.

There were three new sides in the greater Los Angeles area added to the Western Conference, but the spotlight was clearly on the Pali Blues of 2005 W-League championship coach Naimo. With a mix of his former players from the east coast and some top talent from California, Pali dominated the conference with Vancouver battling through a campaign without its usual standard of talent due to international camps and competitions.

Meanwhile, the regular season was not a foregone conclusion for the Blues as 2007 finalist Atlanta Silverbacks were crushing their Atlantic Division opposition and new addition FC Indiana Lionesses roared proudly in the Midwest. The Ottawa Fury were also still in the mix despite the loss of veteran stars Kelly Parker, Marie-Eve Nault and Annie Hamel to the Lionesses. The Washington Freedom recovered from an early setback to also remain the hunt.

In the end though, it was the perfection of Pali that won out in the regular season championship sweepstakes as draws cost FC Indiana and Atlanta both a shot at the title. Pali’s gain also proved Seattle’s as the extra postseason berth led to an upset of Vancouver in the conference final, sending the Sounders back to the final four for the third straight year.

FC Indiana and Ottawa both reached the Central Conference Final, where the duo would play to a thrilling 4-3 overtime affair that would finish in FC Indiana’s favor. The Lionesses rallied to tie the game 2-2 in the 90th minute on a goal from Laura Del Rio, who also opened the opened the extra time scoring.

The Eastern Conference Final saw a rematch of the 2007 Final between Atlanta and Washington. Unable to avenge their championship defeat, the Silverbacks fell at home 2-1 in overtime as the Freedom rallied to tie in the 77th via Christie Welsh, who set up the winner two minutes before the game would have advanced to penalties.

Seattle proved a difficult out for FC Indiana, who were unable to find a winner until the 87th minute of the W-League Semifinals. In the other semi, the Blues bounced the defending champions 2-0 on a pair of goals from US youth international Danesha Adams. Washington would go on to capture third with a 2-0 win over Seattle.

A scoreless stalemate in the championship was broken in favor of FC Indiana two minutes into the second half and it appeared the Lionesses would hold on for the title until Pali defender Amy LePeilbet scored the crucial equalizer in the 83rd minute. Then as overtime appeared in order, Italian international Ilaria Pasqui scored the winner two minutes from full time to give Pali a perfect championship season.