2004 USL W-League season

USL W-League
Season	2004
Champions	Vancouver Whitecaps Women
	← 2003 2005 →

The 2004 W-League Season was the league's 10th. The Vancouver Whitecaps Women won the W-League title, defeating the New Jersey Wildcats 4-2 in Ottawa.

Changes from 2003 season

Name changes

One team changed their name in the off-season:

Team Name	Metro Area	Previous Name
Carolina Dynamo	Greensboro area	Greensboro Twisters

Expansion teams

Fourteen teams were added for the season:

Team Name	Metro Area	Location	Previous Affiliation
Bradenton Athletics	Sun Coast area	Bradenton, FL	expansion
Calgary Wildfire	Calgary area	Calgary, AB	expansion
Cleveland Internationals Women	Cleveland area	Cleveland, CA	expansion
Detroit Jaguars	Detroit area	Livonia, ON	expansion
Edmonton Aviators Women	Edmonton area	Edmonton, AB	expansion
Fort Wayne Fever	Fort Wayne area	Fort Wayne, IN	expansion
London Gryphons	London area	London, ON	expansion
Montreal Xtreme	Montreal area	Montreal, QC	expansion
Rhode Island Stingrays	Providence area	Providence, RI	WPSL
Richmond Kickers Destiny	Richmond area	Richmond, VA	expansion
St. Louis Archers	St. Louis area	St. Louis, MO	expansion
Sudbury Canadians	Sudbury area	Sudbury, ON	expansion
Western Mass Lady Pioneers	Springfield area	Ludlow, MA	expansion
West Michigan Firewomen	Grand Rapids area	Grand Rapids, MI	expansion

Teams leaving

Two teams folded after the 2004 season:

Standings

Orange indicates bye into W-League semifinals as host.
Blue indicates division title clinched
Green indicates playoff berth clinched

Central Conference

Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Hampton Roads Piranhas	14	12	1	1	30	8	+22	37
2	Charlotte Lady Eagles	14	11	2	1	45	16	+29	34
3	Asheville Splash	14	7	4	3	32	13	+19	24
4	Richmond Kickers Destiny	14	5	7	2	32	29	+3	17
5	Carolina Dynamo Women	14	5	8	1	24	35	−11	16
6	Northern Virginia Majestics	14	2	11	1	17	44	−27	7
7	Bradenton Athletics	14	2	11	1	18	53	−35	7

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Midwest Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chicago Cobras	13	12	0	1	42	12	+30	37
2	Fort Wayne Fever	13	10	2	1	48	16	+32	31
3	Detroit Jaguars	13	8	5	0	33	18	+15	24
4	Cleveland Internationals Women	13	7	6	0	27	16	+11	21
5	Cincinnati Ladyhawks	13	4	9	0	14	28	−14	12
6	Windy City Bluez	13	4	9	0	21	39	−18	12
7	West Michigan Firewomen	13	1	12	0	6	36	−30	3
8	London Gryphons^[a]	3	1	2	0	4	16	−12	3
9	St. Louis Archers^[a]	2	0	2	0	18	45	−27	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ ^a ^b St. Louis folded after two games, and London played three games as an associate member.

Eastern Conference

New England Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Boston Renegades	14	10	4	56	28	+28	30
2	Western Mass Lady Pioneers	14	7	7	30	23	+7	21
3	New Hampshire Lady Phantoms	14	3	11	13	40	−27	9
4	Rhode Island Stingrays	14	2	12	10	68	−58	6

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

North Central Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Ottawa Fury Women	14	13	1	68	7	+61	39
2	Montreal Xtreme	14	11	3	57	19	+38	33
3	Rochester Ravens	14	8	6	33	26	+7	24
4	Toronto Inferno	14	3	11	13	38	−25	9
5	Sudbury Canadians	14	1	13	15	77	−62	3

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Northeast Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	New Jersey Wildcats	14	14	0	76	5	+71	42
2	Long Island Lady Riders	14	11	3	48	29	+19	33
3	New Jersey Lady Stallions	14	10	4	44	22	+22	30
4	New York Magic	14	3	11	13	47	−34	9
5	South Jersey Banshees	14	2	12	13	65	−52	6

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Western Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Vancouver Whitecaps Women	14	13	0	1	57	11	+46	40
2	Seattle Sounders Women	14	11	2	1	44	12	+32	34
3	Edmonton Aviators Women	14	7	5	2	21	16	+5	23
4	Denver Lady Cougars	14	6	7	1	24	25	−1	19
5	Arizona Heatwave	14	6	7	1	25	36	−11	19
6	Mile High Mustangs	14	4	7	3	18	34	−16	15
7	Calgary Wildfire	14	2	12	0	13	41	−28	6
8	Fort Collins Force	14	1	10	3	18	45	−27	6

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Playoffs

Format

Seven teams each from the Eastern Conference, four teams from the Central Conference and two from the Western Conference qualify for the playoffs. The Ottawa Fury Women received a bye into the W-League semifinals as hosts. All matchups are in a one-leg format.

In the Central Conference, the Division champions play the second-place team from the same division, who will play each other to advance to the W-League Semifinals.

In the Eastern Conference, the top two teams in each division play each other, except for the Division champion with the best record, that receives a bye to the Conference Semifinals, and Ottawa, who has a bye to the W-League Semifinals. The team with the worst record in the Conference Semifinals plays the team with the Divisional Finals bye, and the other two teams play each other. The winners play to advance to the W-League Semifinals.

The two teams in the Western Conference will play each other to advance to the W-League Semifinals.

Conference Brackets

Central Conference

Divisional Finals			Central Finals

MW1	Chicago Cobras	3

MW2	Fort Wayne Fever	2
			MW	Chicago Cobras (AET)	3

			A2	Charlotte Lady Eagles	2
A1	Hampton Roads Piranhas	0

A2	Charlotte Lady Eagles	2

Eastern Conference

Division Finals

Eastern Semifinals

Eastern Championship

NE1

New Jersey Wildcats

2

NWE1

Boston Renegades

0

NWE1

Boston Renegades (AET)

1

NWE2

Western Mass Lady Pioneers

0

NE1

New Jersey Wildcats

6

NC1

Montreal Xtreme

5

NC1

Montreal Xtreme

3

NC2

Rochester Ravens

0

NC1

Montreal Xtreme (AET)

6

NE2

Long Island Lady Riders

5

NE2

Long Island Lady Riders (AET)

1

NE3

New Jersey Lady Stallions

0

Western Conference

Western Finals

W1	Vancouver Whitecaps Women	1

W2	Seattle Sounders Women	0

W-League Championship Bracket

Semifinals			Championship

H	Ottawa Fury Women	1

NE1	New Jersey Wildcats	2
			NE1	New Jersey Wildcats (AET/PK)	0 (2)

			W1	Vancouver Whitecaps Women	0 (4)
W1	Vancouver Whitecaps Women	2

MW1	Chicago Cobras	1	Third Place


			H	Ottawa Fury Women	1

			MW1	Chicago Cobras	0