It has been an eventful past two weeks in the W-League. While the teams in the Top 10 are, for the most part, still the same, the order saw a few changes as some clubs experienced defeat for the first time.
Hudson Valley proved to be the recipient of the misfortune suffered by three of the top five as they moved from sixth to third on the list. Ottawa managed to stay level at fourth with their loss, 1-0 on the road, coming to Toronto, who rounded out the last edition of the rankings. Washington's first defeat, 2-0 at the hands of one-win New York, meant a drop to fifth.
Chicago slipped to sixth because of a draw and a loss, but the defeat was to unbeaten Buffalo in a 3-2 affair. With the victory over Chicago after a previous scoreless draw, the Flash moved to the top of the rankings, supplanting Vancouver, who only saw their place taken because of a draw against seventh-ranked Colorado Rush.
The Western Conference (division) is proving to be arguably the most competitive top-to-bottom. Vancouver is the clear leader as the Whitecaps have avoided the high percentage of draws that have occured in the division. A special nod should be given to expansion Santa Clarita, who are the best last-place team. The Blue Heat (2-6-1) have only allowed 15 goals in nine games and sit four points back of second with one game remaining as everyone in the division other than Vancouver has two wins on the year.
At the bottom of the list are the Atlantic duo of Charlotte and Atlanta. The Silverbacks have a two-point edge in the table, but the Lady Eagles won the last meeting Saturday 1-0 in Atlanta to make their SNA ranking debut ahead of their rivals. The two wrap their regular season campaigns in Charlotte in a battle for the division title. Charlotte’s entry in the list came at the expense of Seattle, which lost to Colorado Rush and edged Santa Clarita 2-1.
The SNA W-League Power Rankings
1 – Buffalo Flash (8-0-2): Two shutout wins over third-place Kalamazoo, but more importantly a 3-2 victory against Chicago.
2 – Vancouver Whitecaps (6-0-3): A 2-2 draw against Colorado Rush followed by win over Santa Clarita.
3 – Hudson Valley QLB (9-1-0): One of two teams in the top seven to earn max points in the past two weeks, downing the Valkyries, Wildcats and Magic.
4 – Ottawa Fury (7-1-2): Win over Hamilton came after first loss, a 0-1 decision at Toronto.
5 – Washington Freedom Futures (9-1-1): Three wins against New Jersey trio, but a stunning 2-0 loss in New York to Magic.
6 – Chicago Red Eleven (8-2-2): Three wins tempered by scoreless draw against Laval and 2-3 loss to Buffalo.
7 – Colorado Rush (2-1-5): An enigma - Posted a 1-0 win at Seattle followed by a 2-2 draw in Vancouver only to return to Colorado and play a 1-1 draw at home against Force, who then handed Rush first loss on Monday, 1-0.
8 – Toronto Lady Lynx (6-2-3): Would have climbed higher if last two weeks had not ended with 0-1 loss at Quebec City. Lady Lynx had won, 1-0, versus Ottawa between wins at Rochester and Laval.
9 - Charlotte Lady Eagles (5-2-2): Lingered in contention for the list and finally broke through with 1-0 win against Atlanta after a win in Northern Virginia.
10 – Atlanta Silverbacks (6-2-1): Still lead Charlotte in table, but finale pits the two sides against one another for division's top spot.
No comments:
Post a Comment