W-League News Release
Friday, July 11, 2014
TAMPA, Fla. – The race for the playoffs in the W-League will be decided in the regular season’s final weekend, with postseason berths in all four conferences still up for grabs. Only four of the nine postseason berths have been claimed so far to set up a big weekend of action across North America.
The Southeastern Conference will be decided on Saturday, as the Charlotte Lady Eagles host the Carolina Elite Cobras to decide which side joins the Gulf Coast Texans in the postseason. The Lady Eagles enter the contest at the Queens Sports Complex (7 p.m. ET, YouTube) knowing they must win in order to jump past Carolina Elite and into the playoffs. The two teams have already drawn twice this season, and the same result would put the Cobras into the postseason for a second consecutive season.
The key weekend action gets underway on Friday night as the Colorado Pride host the Seattle Sounders Women at Colorado College’s Washburn field at 7 p.m. MT. The expansion Pride have had an outstanding first season in the W-League and would claim a postseason berth with victory, but the Sounders sit only three points behind and would take the head-to-head tiebreaker between the teams should they earn victory on Friday and on Sunday against the Colorado Storm.
Second place in the Northeastern Division could be decided on Saturday, with games between the Long Island Rough Riders and New York Magic, and the Braddock Road Stars Elite and North Jersey Valkyries set to determine which side will face the Washington Spirit Reserves in the conference title game. Braddock Road holds the inside track to the berth and would clinch a spot with victory against the Valkyries ahead of the Rough Riders thanks to their win and draw against Long Island this season.
Long Island and New York, meanwhile, will both aim for victory and hope for a slip from the Stars Elite that would move either the Rough Riders or Magic into second place. Long Island claimed a 1-0 victory in the last meeting between the two teams after a 0-0 draw in their first meeting of the season, so a tense, playoff-style game is likely at Long Island’s Cy Donnelly Stadium.
Finally in the Central Conference, K-W United will try to clinch second place in the conference on Friday night as it faces the Quebec Dynamo ARSQ at 7 p.m. ET. United, which sits a point ahead of Laval and Toronto, would move four points clear and earn the right to host next week’s conference semifinal with a victory against the Dynamo.
Attention would then switch to Saturday night, as United completes its trip to Quebec by facing the Laval Comets. The Comets currently hold the conference’s third and final playoff place and would clinch a postseason berth with victory against United. Should they fail to claim victory, the door would open for the Toronto Lady Lynx, who sit tied with Laval at 17 points. A win for Toronto against Ottawa combined with a draw between K-W and Laval, or a draw with the Fury if the Comets lose to United, would send the Lady Lynx to the postseason.
Select games from the final weekend of the W-League regular season can be seen live on YouTube, with live updates also available via Twitter (@USLWLEAGUE) and Facebook. Stay up to date with news, previews and match reports from throughout the league via WLEAGUEsoccer.com.