Pali and Santa Clarita seem to be going in different directions at the end of the season so I wouldn't bet against Pali getting a playoff spot. Meanwhile, Vancouver is probably playing their most cohesive soccer right now. A newspaper story about Sydney Leroux: http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Leroux+dream+changed+drive/5100829/story.html
Charlotte 3, Virginia Beach 0. Charlotte is in the playoffs as the #2 team in the Atlantic Division, Virginia Beach is out. In first round of playoffs, presumably hosted by Atlanta, Charlotte will play Long Island while the Silverbacks take on New Jersey. Winners play each other for the right to go to Seattle for the championship playoffs as the Eastern Conference champion.
Quebec City Amiral 4, Rochester Ravens 1. Amiral clinch a playoff spot by eliminating the Ravens. They're currently in second place in the division but are done with the season while Toronto and Laval, tied at two points behind, have a game to play. However, Laval gets to play Rochester while Toronto has to play the undefeated Ottawa Fury. So most likely finish is: Ottawa (already clinched #1) Laval Quebec City Toronto Meanwhile, word from Vancouver-Colorado is that the Force's Erin Gunther already has a hat trick in the 28th minute. Vancouver is losing, 0-3. If the result holds, Santa Clarita is in the playoffs and Sunday evening's match is no longer just for the playoffs but for the regular-season conference championship and the right to host the playoff match.
Vancouver Whitecaps 3 - Colorado Force 3. Big second-half comeback on two goals from Sydney Leroux to get them a point, but a draw is really as bad as a loss. 28 - Santa Clarita 28 - Vancouver - 26 - Pali Blues Santa Clarita has clinched a playoff spot. Pali wins: They win division, Santa Clarita is second. Otherwise: Santa Clarita wins division, Vancouver is second.
Laval Comets 4, Rochester Ravens 1 Ottawa Fury 5, Toronto Lady Lynx 0 Final standings, Central Conference: 36 Ottawa (undefeated season) 20 Laval 19 Quebec City 17 Toronto --- 10 Rochester 8 Hamilton 6 London _________ Atlanta Silverback 4, Virginia Beach Piranhas 1 A meaningless game at this point, but Virginia Beach is unable to crack the Atlantic Division's perennial playoff pair, Charlotte and Atlanta, losing to each on consecutive days. 26 Atlanta 20 Charlotte --- 17 Dayton 15 Virginia Beach 7 Fredericksburg 1 Northern Virginia (a particular bad season even by their standards)
Santa Clarita Blue Heat 0 - Pali Blues 0. Santa Clarita wins the Western Conference and will host the Vancouver Whitecaps for the right to go to the W-League Final Four. The Pali Blues miss the playoffs for the first time in their history. 31 - Santa Clarita 28 - Vancouver - 26 - Pali Blues
It's a shame for Pali that there wasn't another playoff spot in the Western Conference. They were probably the best team at the end of the season.
Even though I'm experiencing a certain amount of schadenfreude at the Blues not making the playoffs, I think it's ridiculous that the Central Conference with seven teams (and just one good one) gets four playoff spots, while the Western Conference with eight teams (three good ones) gets only two.
Items of note from the W-League website: 2011 W-League Playoff Matchups Set 5:30 pm ET Thursday - Eastern Conference semfinal: Long Island @ Charlotte 8 pm ET Thursday - Eastern Conference semfinal: New Jersey vs. Atlanta 5:30 pm ET Friday - Eastern Conference final 3 pm ET Saturday - Central Conference semifinal: Toronto @ Ottawa 6 pm ET Saturday - Central Conference semifinal: Laval vs. Quebec City 3 pm ET Sunday - Central Conference final 10 pm ET Sunday - Western Conference final: Vancouver @ Santa Clarita Ottawa Sweeps Regular Season Honors W-League Scoring Champion: Mallory Outerbridge, Ottawa Fury (17g, 3a) Runners-up: Stephanie Goddard, Virginia Beach Piranhas; Sydney Leroux, Vancouver Whitecaps W-League Assist Champion: Terea Rynier, Ottawa Fury (1g, 8a) W-League GAA Champion: Jasmine Phillips, Ottawa Fury (0.526)
Thanks for the updates StarCityFan. I was worried the Silverbacks game would get scheduled the same night as the Beat game. Looks like I'll get 3 straight nights of live soccer, woohoo!
Whitecaps add CNT player Kaylyn Kyle to roster. How can they do that? I thought rosters had been frozen. I suppose they must have put her name on the roster before the cut-off and removed someone who was leaving early (the UNC players have been long gone for example). Ottawa wins a number of individual honors. If Canada were a normal footballing nation the success of someone like Mallory Outerbridge would attract attention from the NT but given the questionable level of play in the W-League I'm not sure she will.
Oh, right. First place is a set of steak knives. Second place is you get to host the playoffs. I don't get it.
That is kind of bizarre considering that Charlotte is #3 of the four teams in the playoffs. I was assuming that Atlanta would host the finals and was surprised to see Charlotte Christian as the venue.
Charlotte 2 - 1 Long Island Atlanta 3 - 2 New Jersey Charlotte vs Atlanta for a spot in the Final Four tomorrow. Neither team has their #1 keeper in the lineup at the moment.
Atlanta defeats Charlotte, 1-0, to win their second straight Eastern Conference title and advance to the Final Four in Seattle next week. Barring a huge upset involving Ottawa, they'll probably play the winner of Vancouver-Santa Clarita in the semi-finals.
Ottawa Fury 4, Toronto Lady Lynx 0 Quebec City Amiral 3, Laval Comets 1 The Fury continue to bulldoze their way through the opposition, though to be fair they have yet to play a quality team (and, thanks to the setup of this year's Final Four, they may only have to play one quality team in order to claim the championship). Central Conference final Sunday at 3 pm.
The good news for Canadian soccer is that both Vancouver Whitecaps and Ottawa Fury seem to be playing effective possession-oriented soccer right now. The bad news is that they're doing it mostly with American players. However, Alyssa Lagonia has established herself in the Ottawa midfield. She's been with the NT on a few occasions so maybe she'll live up to her promise. Tina Romagnuolo has also done well in Vancouver's midfield. She was named co-MVP for the season.
You will no doubt be shocked to hear that the Ottawa Fury squeaked past the Quebec City Amiral by the score of 6-0. All that remains to be determined is whether Vancouver or Santa Clarita will represent the Western Conference in the Final Four, and that should be settled by midnight (EDT) tonight.