2004 USL W-League season explained

Competition:USL W-League
Season:2004
Winners:Vancouver Whitecaps Women
Prevseason:2003
Nextseason: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:

Expansion teams

Fourteen teams were added for the season:

Team NameMetro AreaLocationPrevious Affiliation
Bradenton AthleticsSun Coast areaBradenton, FLexpansion
Calgary WildfireCalgary areaCalgary, ABexpansion
Cleveland Internationals WomenCleveland areaCleveland, CAexpansion
Detroit JaguarsDetroit areaLivonia, ONexpansion
Edmonton Aviators WomenEdmonton areaEdmonton, ABexpansion
Fort Wayne FeverFort Wayne areaFort Wayne, INexpansion
London GryphonsLondon areaLondon, ONexpansion
Montreal XtremeMontreal areaMontreal, QCexpansion
Rhode Island StingraysProvidence areaProvidence, RIWPSL
Richmond Kickers DestinyRichmond areaRichmond, VAexpansion
St. Louis ArchersSt. Louis areaSt. Louis, MOexpansion
Sudbury CanadiansSudbury areaSudbury, ONexpansion
Western Mass Lady PioneersSpringfield areaLudlow, MAexpansion
West Michigan FirewomenGrand Rapids areaGrand Rapids, MIexpansion

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

Midwest Division

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division

Western Conference

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

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Divisional Round

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Conference semifinals

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Conference finals

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W-League Semifinals

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W-League Finals

See also