USL News Release
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced the schedule for the Premier Development League and W-League playoff games through the Conference Finals. The PDL Conference Playoffs will be Friday and Saturday, July 27-28 while W-League playoffs begin with a Divisional Playoff Round Wednesday, July 25.
The postseason begins with Divisional Round W-League action Wednesday when the third-place clubs in the Northern and Northeast division’s visit their rival second-place clubs in their division for the right to join the division champion in the Eastern Conference tournament. The Laval Comets take on the Toronto Lynx and the Northern Virginia Majestics will meet Jersey Sky Blue.
The regular season W-League and Eastern Conference champion Ottawa Fury will host the conference tournament and will be joined by the Northeast Division champion Washington Freedom as well as the Divisional Round winners. The conference semifinals will be Saturday, July 28 with the conference championship the following day. The division champions will face the winner of the opposite division’s divisional round match in the semifinals.
W-League postseason action continues on Friday with the Western Conference Championship and the Central Conference Semifinals. With the defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps narrowly missing the postseason, the Seattle Sounders visit the expansion San Diego Sunwaves. The Minnesota Lightning will play host to the Central Conference playoff tournament, which features the conference semifinals Friday and the conference championship Saturday. The division champions will face the opposite division’s second place club in the semifinals with the winners advancing to the conference championship match.
The three conference champions will join the W-League Championship tournament host Rochester Rhinos in the W-League Semifinals August 3 to determine who will square off for the W-League title August 5 at PAETEC Park. The W-League Semifinals will be available via USL’s new broadband internet broadcast channel USLlive.com. The W-League Championship will air on Fox Soccer Channel at 5:30 pm ET.
All four PDL conferences will hold their semifinals Friday with the conference championship matches the following night. The Michigan Bucks (Central), Ocean City Barons (Eastern), Laredo Heat (Southern) and Fresno Fuego (Western) will be playing host to their respective four-team conference tournaments. Each tournament features the division champions facing the opposite division’s second place club in the semifinals with the winners advancing to the conference championship match. The winners of the conference championships will advance to the PDL Semifinals, which will be hosted at two different sites by two of the remaining four clubs the following weekend. The PDL championship, hosted by one of the two finalists, is Saturday, August 11 and will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel.
W-League Playoff Schedule (times ET)
Eastern Conference Playoffs
Divisional Round
7/25 – Laval @ Toronto – 7:30
7/25 – Northern Virginia @ Jersey – 7:30
Conference Semifinals (Ottawa, ON)
7/28 – Laval/Toronto v Washington – 2:00
7/28 – No. Virginia/Jersey v Ottawa – 5:00
Conference Championship (Ottawa, ON)
7/29 – Semifinal Winners – 5:00
Western Conference Championship
7/27 – Seattle @ San Diego – 9:30
Central Conference Playoffs
Conference Semifinals (St Paul, MN)
7/27 – Michigan v Atlanta – 6:00
7/27 – Richmond v Minnesota – 8:30
Conference Championship (St Paul, MN)
7/28 – Semifinal Winners – 8:00
W-League Championship
Semifinals
8/3 - # 3 Seed v # 2 Seed – 5:30
8/3 - # 1 Seed v Rochester – 8:00
Consolation Match
8/5 – Semifinal Losers – 2:30
Championship
8/5 – Semifinal Winners – 5:30
Premier Development League Playoff Schedule (times ET)
Central Conference Playoffs (Detroit, MI)
Conference Semifinals
7/27 – Chicago v Thunder Bay – 5:30
7/27 – St Louis v Michigan – 8:00
Conference Championship
7/28 – Semifinal Winners – 7:30
Eastern Conference Playoffs (Ocean City, NJ)
Conference Semifinals
7/27 – Brooklyn v Hampton Roads – 5:00
7/27 – Ocean City v Cape Cod – 7:30
Conference Championship
7/28 – Semifinal Winners – 7:30
Southern Conference Playoffs (Laredo, TX)
Conference Semifinals
7/27 – El Paso v Carolina - 6:30
7/27 – Central Florida v Laredo – 9:30
Conference Championship
7/28 – Semifinal Winners – 7:30
Western Conference Playoffs (Fresno, CA)
Conference Semifinals
7/27 – San Fernando Valley v BYU – 7:30
7/27 – Tacoma v Fresno – 10:30
Conference Championship
7/28 – Semifinal Winners – 10:30
PDL Semifinals
Sites & Dates TBD (August 3-5)
PDL Championship
August 11 (Site & Time TBD)
