Thursday, August 2, 2007
TAMPA, FL -- The 2007 W-League Championship weekend in Rochester, New York begins Friday with the W-League Semifinals at PAETEC Park, where Atlanta Silverbacks, Seattle Sounders, Washington Freedom and host Rochester Rhinos will begin their final push to be crowned the top women’s side in North America.
The Sounders (8-4-1) and Silverbacks (11-2-1) will kick things off at 5:30 pm and the Rochester Rhinos (5-7-0) and top-seeded Washington Freedom (14-1-1) will follow at approximately 8:00 pm. Both games will be available on www.USLlive.com. The winners will advance to the W-League Championship, which will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel Sunday at 5:30 pm ET. On the team’s idle day Saturday, they will enjoy the Championship Luncheon, where season awards will be presented, honoring the top players from the 2007 season, including the 2007 W-League MVP, which will be announced at the luncheon.
One of the unique storylines of the final four is that it is the first time since Canadian teams joined the league in 2000 that a representative from Canada has not reached the league semifinals. The Ottawa Fury had reached the semifinals the last four years and the Vancouver Whitecaps in five of the last six years, winning twice. The Toronto Inferno were the first team to reach the final four in 2000.
Another unique storyline is that all four teams are part of a larger club. The Sounders, Silverbacks and Rhinos are each affiliated with a USL First Division men’s club with Seattle and Rochester each accounting for three USL-1 titles. The Freedom, a legacy of the former 2003 WUSA Champions, have established an elite youth system, as have the Silverbacks. In fact, the Freedom produced the first USL Super-20 League women’s champion last year and are looking to repeat this weekend at the North American Finals in Epping, New Hampshire. The Silverbacks had teams in five of the 10 brackets at the Super Y-League North American Finals last fall.
“The composition of the W-League Championship tournament this weekend is a perfect example of the direction the game is headed in North America,” said W-League Director of Operations Kristin Lettiere. “The quality of play in women’s soccer in the United States and Canada at the club level is world class and the W-League is proud that many of the teams are part of a professionally operated club structure. While the sport continues to grow, it is important that both men’s and women’s soccer are working together at all levels of the game to ensure that opportunities for growth of the sport as a whole are maximized in every way.”
The Sounders come into the weekend as the only club with previous W-League Championship experience, having previously reached the semifinals last season and in 2003, finishing third both times. Thirteen players from last year’s team are with the club this season.
The Freedom have three holdovers from their 2003 WUSA Founder’s Cup championship team in the form of Australian international Kele Golebiowski and former US youth internationals Lori Lindsay and Casey Zimney. Zimney, a Rochester native, returns after having played briefly for the Rhinos last season and for the team when it was previously known as the Ravens in 1997 and 1998 while still in high school.
The Teams At A Glance
Atlanta Silverbacks: The Silverbacks, seeded fifth overall in the playoffs, clinched a playoff berth for the first time in their three-year history and won division title July 20. The club came into the postseason with a 9-2-1 record and on a four-game unbeaten run (3-0-1) that included a win over fellow Mid Atlantic playoff qualifier Richmond, who they finished ahead of in the division based on a two-game season sweep of the Kickers Destiny in the tiebreaker. In one of the more impressive conference tournament performances in recent memory, the Silverbacks dominated play with a surprising 4-0 victory over a returning playoff side Michigan before hammering the host Minnesota Lightning 5-2 for the conference title. Atlanta built a shocking 5-0 lead over the 11-1-1 team before allowing two late consolation strikes.
Washington Freedom: The Freedom, seeded second overall in the playoffs, punched their postseason ticket July 14 and won the division title July 22 to earn a bye to the conference playoff tournament in Ottawa. The legacy of the former WUSA club has developed quite a pedigree in USL with a Super-20 League championship last year, and in their first full season in the W-League, nearly went unbeaten at 12-1-1. The Freedom entered the playoffs on a six-game winning streak and opened with a 6-1 drubbing of the very talented Toronto side before ending Ottawa’s four-year streak of reaching the W-League semifinals by shutting them out at home 1-0 for the conference championship.
Seattle Sounders: The Sounders, 7-4-1, locked up their fifth trip to the W-League postseason July 19, returning with a playoff record of 3-4-1 and a Third Place finish in 2003. In their season series against San Diego the two split a pair of 2-0 results with wins at home. Less than a week after falling to San Diego 2-0 in a game that decided the regular season conference title and the right to host the conference playoff match, the Sounders returned to California and came back from a 1-0 deficit to knock off the expansion Sunwaves 2-1. While the Sounders are seeded 11th overall, they do boast an impressive resume with their win in San Diego against a club with numerous Mexican internationals and their two victories, one home and one away, over the 2006 champion Vancouver Whitecaps. The victory in Vancouver ended the Whitecaps’ amazing 34-game home unbeaten streak.
Rochester Rhinos: As hosts of the league championship tournament, the Rhinos received an automatic berth in the semifinals. Competing with a very young squad in an extremely competitive division, the Rhinos finished the season with a pair of wins after having played close matches against Ottawa and Toronto. They also defeated playoff qualifier Laval. The Rhinos, seeded 13th overall in the playoffs, will be looking to register what would go down as the greatest upset in league history.
The 2007 W-League Championship Media Kit >>
