USL News Release
Monday, July 18, 2011
TAMPA, Fla. – The 2011 W-League season drew to a dramatic close Saturday evening with its final regular season match deciding the final 2011 playoff berth. The Santa Clarita Blue Heat took a point from the Pali Blues in a scoreless tie to give Santa Clarita the W-League Western Conference title. The Blue Heat will be joined in the postseason by nine other teams looking for a ticket to the 2011 W-League Championship Presented by Umbro, set for July 29-31 in Seattle.
Santa Clarita (8-1-5) will host the 2010 W-League runner-up Vancouver Whitecaps (8-2-4) at 10 p.m. ET Sunday with a finals berth on the line. The Western Conference was once again one of the tightest races in the W-League, with the one-loss Pali Blues missing the playoffs by a single point.
The regular season champion Ottawa Fury were the class of the W-League all season, amassing a perfect 12-0-0 record. The Fury slammed in 43 goals and conceded only five in a remarkable 2011 regular season. The Fury will host the Central Conference Playoffs next weekend.
The Central Conference semifinals will kick off Saturday as the Fury play the Toronto Lady Lynx (5-5-2) at 3 p.m. ET and the Laval Comets (6-4-2) do battle with the Quebec City Amiral (6-5-1) at 6 p.m. ET. The winners will meet at 3 p.m. ET Sunday for the right to go to the W-League Championship.
The Atlanta Silverbacks (9-1-0) finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference and are looking for their second consecutive appearance at the W-League Championship. The Silverbacks will square off with the Northeast Division runners-up, the New Jersey Wildcats (6-1-3), Thursday evening at 8 p.m. ET. The winner of that match will face the winner of the other semifinal between the Northeast Division Champion Long Island Rough Riders (7-1-2) and the Atlantic Division runners-up, the Charlotte Lady Eagles (6-2-2), set for 5:30 p.m. ET Thursday.
The final spot in the 2011 W-League Championship Presented by Umbro will go to the Seattle Sounders Women (5-5-4), hosts of the finals. The Sounders Women enjoyed a strong finish to the season and were unbeaten in their last six matches.
The 2011 W-League Championship Presented by Umbro will take place at Starfire Sports Complex in Seattle, Washington July 29-31.