W-League News Release
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
TAMPA, Fla. – The W-League announced its 2014 regular season honors Tuesday, with Colorado Rush striker Danica Evans leading the honorees.
Evans, who captured the Scoring Champion and Golden Boot titles thanks to her 13 goals and 29 points in 12 games, led the league’s second-best offense as the Rush scored 38 goals en route to a 6-3-3 record. Evans, a two-time Team of the Week selection who is entering her sophomore season at the University of Portland, tallied a pair of hat tricks this season.
Mele French of the LA Blues and Sarah Schweiss of the Colorado Pride are the Co-Assist Champions after they each tallied eight this season. They will have a chance to settle the score Saturday as they meet head to head for the Western Conference Championship at 10:30 p.m. ET at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California.
French, a W-League veteran, also finished second in the scoring race with 24 points and third in the Golden Boot rankings with eight goals. Schweiss, a W-League rookie entering her junior year at Colorado College, helped the expansion Pride navigate a highly competitive Western Conference to advance to the title game.
Staying with the Western Conference theme, the W-League’s Goals-Against Average Champion is LA’s Sammy Jo Prudhomme, who allowed only two goals against in 765 minutes of action for a miniscule 0.235 GAA. Prudhomme, who has completed two standout seasons at Oregon State University, edged Adelaide Gay of the Washington Spirit Reserves (0.268) for the honor. Gay led the league in shutouts with seven while Prudhomme was one of three tied for second with six.
The 2014 W-League Playoffs get underway Tuesday when K-W United hosts the Laval Comets at 7 p.m. ET in the Central Conference play-in game. The winner advances to face the conference’s top seed, Ottawa Fury FC, at 3 p.m. ET Saturday. The Northeastern Conference Championship sees the Braddock Road Stars Elite visiting the Washington Spirit Reserves at 7 p.m. ET Friday, while the Southeastern Conference title game sees the Gulf Coast Texans visiting the Charlotte Lady Eagles at 7 p.m. ET Saturday.
The winners of each of the conference title games will advance to the 2014 W-League Championship presented by Nike, set for July 25-27 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
The W-League All-Conference Teams will be announced on Monday, July 21, followed by the All-League Team on Tuesday, July 22. The finalists for Coach of the Year, Defender of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player will be announced on Wednesday, July 23, with the awards presented at the W-League Championship Awards Banquet in Bradenton on Saturday, July 26. Goalkeeper of the Year will also be presented at the banquet.