2010 USL W-League season


The 2010 W-League Season was the league's 16th. The regular season began in May and ended in July. The playoffs began in late July and ended in August.

Changes from 2009 season

Name Changes

Two teams changed their name in the off-season:
Team NameMetro AreaPrevious Name
Santa Clarita Blue HeatLos Angeles areaVentura County Fusion
Washington Freedom FuturesWashington, D.C. areaWashington Freedom Reserves

Expansion Teams

Three teams were added for the season:
Team NameMetro AreaLocationPrevious Affiliation
Colorado Rush WomenDenver areaDenver, COexpansion
New Jersey RangersNorth Jersey areaDenville, NJexpansion
North Jersey ValkyriesNorth Jersey areaWayne, NJexpansion

Teams Leaving

10 teams folded or left the league after the 2009 season:
Orange indicates W-League title and bye into W-League semifinals.
Purple indicates division title clinched
Green indicates playoff berth clinched
Yellow indicates team would qualify for playoffs in current position
Red indicates team is eliminated from playoffs

Central Conference

Great Lakes Division

Midwest Division

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

Northeast Division

Western Conference

Playoffs

Format

The W-League champion will earn an automatic bye into the W-League Semifinals, with the highest-placed team in the division not making the playoffs will earn a playoff berth.
The Central Conference will have 5 playoff spots. The second and third place teams from the Great Lakes Division will play each other. The winner will play the Midwest Division champions, while the Great Lakes Division champion will play the second place team of the Midwest Division. The winners of those games will play to determine the conference champion. The Eastern Conference division champions will play the second place team of the opposite division, the winners facing off to determine who goes to the W-League Semifinals. The Western Conference will have their top two teams facing off to determine their conference champion.
The W-League Semifinals will put the regular season champion against the lowest seeded conference champion, and the higher-ranked conference champions against each other. The winners of these games will play in the championship.

Conference Brackets

Central Conference
Eastern Conference
Western Conference

W-League Championship Bracket

Divisional Round

Conference Semifinals

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Conference Finals

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W-League Semifinals

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W-League Third Place

W-League Championship