2003 Women's United Soccer Association season

Women's United Soccer Association
Season2003
ChampionsWashington Freedom
← 2002

The 2003 Women's United Soccer Association season was the third and final season for WUSA, the first top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. The regular season began on April 5 and ended on August 10. The playoffs began on August 16, with the championship match between played on August 24 between the Washington Freedom and the Atlanta Beat.

Competition format

  • The regular season began on April 5 and ended on August 10.
  • 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 17. The winners of the semifinals met at Torero Stadium in San Diego, California for the final on August 24.

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Boston Breakers 21 10 7 4 33 29 +4 37 Regular season winners
2 Atlanta Beat 21 9 8 4 34 19 +15 35 Qualification to playoffs
3 San Diego Spirit 21 8 7 6 27 26 +1 31
4 Washington Freedom (C) 21 9 4 8 40 31 +9 31
5 New York Power 21 7 5 9 33 43 −10 26
6 San Jose CyberRays 21 7 4 10 23 30 −7 25
7 Carolina Courage 21 7 4 10 31 33 −2 25
8 Philadelphia Charge 21 5 5 11 30 40 −10 20
Source: WUSA[1][2]
(C) Champions

Playoffs

Semi-Finals Founders Cup
      
1 Boston Breakers 0 (1)
4 Washington Freedom 0 (3)
4 Washington Freedom 2
2 Atlanta Beat 1
2 Atlanta Beat 2
3 San Diego Spirit 1

Semi-finals

August 16, 2003 Semi-Finals Boston Breakers 0–0 (a.e.t.)
(1–3 p)		 Washington Freedom Boston, Massachusetts
Report Stadium: Nickerson Field
Attendance: 9,070
Referee: Misail Tsapos
Penalties
Meinert soccer ball with red X
Lilly soccer ball with red X
Mellgren soccer ball with check mark
Aldama soccer ball with red X		 soccer ball with check mark Meier
soccer ball with check mark Little
soccer ball with check mark Hamm
August 17, 2003 Semi-Finals Atlanta Beat 2–1 (a.e.t.) San Diego Spirit Atlanta, Georgia
Pohlers 90+2'
Hooper gold-colored soccer ball 94'		 Report Wagner 38' Stadium: Herndon Stadium
Attendance: 8,123
Referee: Erich Simmons

Founders Cup III

Main article: 2003 WUSA Founders Cup
August 24, 2003 Founders Cup Washington Freedom 2–1 (a.e.t.) Atlanta Beat San Diego, California
Wambach 7', gold-colored soccer ball 96' Report Hooper 46' (pen.) Stadium: Torero Stadium
Attendance: 7,106
Referee: Terry Vaughn

Awards

Award Player Club
Most Valuable Player Germany Maren Meinert Boston Breakers
Defensive Player of the Year United States Joy Fawcett San Diego Spirit
Goalkeeper of the Year United States Briana Scurry Washington Freedom
Rookie of the Year Canada Christine Latham San Diego Spirit
Coach of the Year Sweden Pia Sundhage Boston Breakers
Humanitarian Award United States Jenny Benson Philadelphia Charge
Team Community Service Award San Jose CyberRays
Team Fair Play Award Philadelphia Charge
Referee of the Year United States Terry Vaughn
Executive of the Year United States Joe Cummings Boston Breakers
Goal of the Year United States Abby Wambach Washington Freedom

Source:[3]


See also

References

  1. ^ "2003 WUSA Regular Season Standings". Soccer Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  2. ^ "WUSA Stats and Standings (Archived)". Archived from the original on October 8, 2003. Retrieved May 20, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ "Meinert wins most valuable player". USA Today. Retrieved May 20, 2014.