2001 Women's United Soccer Association season
2001 season of Women's United Soccer Association
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The 2001 Women's United Soccer Association season served as the inaugural season for WUSA, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. The regular season began on April 14 and ended on August 12, with the postseason games being held on August 18 and August 25.
| Season | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Bay Area CyberRays |
| Goals | 235 |
| Average goals/game | 2.80 |
| Top goalscorer | Tiffeny Milbrett (16) |
2002 → | |
Attendance figures were high for the first season, particularly early in the season, though not near the levels organizers were expecting based on the attendance for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. The league spent its initial $40m budget, intended to last five years, in just this first season.
Competition format
- The season began on April 14 and ended on August 12.
- Each team played a total of 21 games, three against each opponent (either twice at home and once away or vice versa). This caused an uneven schedule with teams hosting either 10 or 11 home games each.
- The four teams with the most points from the regular season qualified for the playoffs. The regular season champions and runners-up hosted the fourth- and third-placed teams, respectively, in the single-game semifinals on August 18. The winners of the semifinals met at Foxboro Stadium for the final on August 25.
Results table
| Abbreviation and Color Key: Atlanta Beat - ATL • Bay Area CyberRays - BAY • Boston Breakers - BOS • Carolina Courage - CAR New York Power - NYP • Philadelphia Charge - PHI • San Diego Spirit - SDS • Washington Freedom - WSH Win • Loss • Tie • Home | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Match | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | |
| Atlanta Beat[1] | NYP | PHI | BOS | SDS | PHI | BAY | CAR | BOS | WSH | SDS | CAR | PHI | WSH | NYP | BAY | NYP | CAR | SDS | BOS | WSH | BAY |
| 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 1-1 | 2-1 | 3-2 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 3-2 | 0-3 | 1-1 | 2-1 | 3-2 | 3-1 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 4-0 | |
| Bay Area CyberRays[2] | WSH | BOS | PHI | CAR | BOS | ATL | SDS | NYP | CAR | PHI | SDS | NYP | WSH | BOS | ATL | WSH | SDS | CAR | PHI | NYP | ATL |
| 1-0 | 1-1 | 3-2 | 2-1 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 3-1 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 3-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 2-3 | 0-2 | 1-1 | 1-0 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 3-2 | 0-1 | 4-0 | |
| Boston Breakers[3] | CAR | BAY | ATL | WSH | BAY | PHI | NYP | ATL | SDS | WSH | NYP | SDS | CAR | BAY | PHI | CAR | NYP | WSH | ATL | SDS | PHI |
| 0-1 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 2-4 | 2-3 | 2-3 | 1-1 | 3-1 | 1-0 | 3-1 | 3-1 | 2-1 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 4-2 | 2-1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 2-1 | |
| Carolina Courage[4] | BOS | WSH | NYP | BAY | WSH | SDS | ATL | NYP | PHI | BAY | ATL | WSH | PHI | BOS | SDS | BOS | ATL | BAY | NYP | PHI | SDS |
| 0-1 | 1-2 | 3-1 | 2-1 | 2-2 | 4-3 | 0-2 | 2-4 | 3-0 | 2-0 | 1-1 | 2-0 | 2-0 | 2-1 | 2-0 | 1-2 | 3-2 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 5-1 | 2-2 | |
| New York Power[5] | ATL | SDS | CAR | PHI | SDS | WSH | BOS | CAR | BAY | PHI | BOS | SDS | BAY | ATL | WSH | ATL | BOS | PHI | CAR | BAY | WSH |
| 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-1 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 3-1 | 1-1 | 1-0 | 0-3 | 2-1 | 2-1 | 4-2 | 2-1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-2 | |
| Philadelphia Charge[6] | SDS | ATL | BAY | NYP | ATL | BOS | WSH | WSH | CAR | NYP | BAY | ATL | CAR | SDS | BOS | WSH | NYP | BAY | CAR | SDS | BOS |
| 0-2 | 0-0 | 3-2 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 2-3 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 3-0 | 2-1 | 3-0 | 1-1 | 2-0 | 3-0 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2-1 | 3-2 | 5-1 | 1-1 | 2-1 | |
| San Diego Spirit[7] | PHI | NYP | WSH | ATL | NYP | CAR | BAY | BOS | ATL | WSH | BAY | NYP | BOS | PHI | CAR | BAY | ATL | WSH | BOS | PHI | CAR |
| 0-2 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 4-3 | 0-1 | 3-1 | 3-2 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 3-1 | 3-0 | 2-0 | 0-2 | 3-1 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 2-2 | |
| Washington Freedom[8] | BAY | CAR | SDS | BOS | CAR | NYP | PHI | PHI | ATL | BOS | SDS | CAR | WSH | BAY | NYP | BAY | PHI | BOS | SDS | ATL | NYP |
| 1-0 | 1-2 | 2-0 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 2-1 | 1-0 | 2-3 | 2-0 | 3-2 | 2-3 | 2-1 | 1-0 | 0-2 | 2-1 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 0-2 | |
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlanta Beat | 21 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 31 | 21 | +10 | 37 | Regular Season Championship |
| 2 | Bay Area CyberRays | 21 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 27 | 23 | +4 | 37 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 3 | New York Power | 21 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 30 | 25 | +5 | 32 | |
| 4 | Philadelphia Charge | 21 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 35 | 28 | +7 | 31 | |
| 5 | San Diego Spirit | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 29 | 28 | +1 | 28 | |
| 6 | Boston Breakers | 21 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 29 | 35 | −6 | 27 | |
| 7 | Washington Freedom | 21 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 26 | 35 | −9 | 21 | |
| 8 | Carolina Courage | 21 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 28 | 40 | −12 | 21 |
Playoffs
Home teams listed second
| Semi-Finals | Founders Cup | ||||||||
| 3 | New York Power | 2 | |||||||
| 2 | Bay Area CyberRays | 3 | |||||||
| 2 | Bay Area CyberRays | 3 (4) | |||||||
| 1 | Atlanta Beat | 3 (2) | |||||||
| 4 | Philadelphia Charge | 2 | |||||||
| 1 | Atlanta Beat | 3 | |||||||
Semi-finals
| August 18, 2001 Semi-Finals | New York Power | 2–3 | Bay Area CyberRays | San Jose, California |
| 1:30 pm PDT | Janss  5'Lalor 45' |
Report | Murray 4', 82' Chastain 40' (pen.) |
Stadium: Spartan Stadium Attendance: 7,756 Referee: Kari Seitz |
| August 18, 2001 Semi-Finals | Philadelphia Charge | 2–3 (a.e.t.) | Atlanta Beat | Atlanta, Georgia |
| 6:45 pm EDT | Smith 33' Clemens 36' |
Report | Sun 67' (pen.) Parlow 79',  101' |
Stadium: Bobby Dodd Stadium Attendance: 12,138 Referee: Ricardo Salazar |
Founders Cup
| August 25, 2001 Founders Cup | Bay Area CyberRays | 3–3 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) | Atlanta Beat | Boston, Massachusetts |
| 2:00 pm EDT | Chastain 6' Murray 43' Venturini 86' |
Report | Bivens 11' Hooper 14' Sun Wen 83' |
Stadium: Foxboro Stadium Attendance: 21,078 Referee: Sandra Hunt |
| Penalties | ||||
Venturini  Dorn Kátia Murray |
 Sun Wen Serlenga Hooper Blalack |
|||
Awards
| Award | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Most Valuable Player |  Tiffeny Milbrett | New York Power |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Tiffeny Milbrett | New York Power |
| Defensive Player of the Year |  Doris Fitschen | Philadelphia Charge |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | LaKeysia Beene | Bay Area CyberRays |
| Coach of the Year |  Ian Sawyers | Bay Area CyberRays |
| Humanitarian Award | Kate Sobrero | Boston Breakers |
| Team Community Service Award | Washington Freedom | |
| Team Fair Play Award | New York Power |
Source:[9]
