2001 Women's United Soccer Association season

Women's United Soccer Association
Season2001
ChampionsBay Area CyberRays
Goals scored235
Average goals/game2.80
Top goalscorerTiffeny Milbrett (16)
2002 →

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.

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
Updated to match(es) played on August 2001. Source: [1]

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', gold-colored soccer ball 101'		 Stadium: Bobby Dodd Stadium
Attendance: 12,138
Referee: Ricardo Salazar

Founders Cup

Main article: 2001 WUSA 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 soccer ball with check mark
Dorn soccer ball with check mark
Kátia soccer ball with check mark
Murray soccer ball with check mark		 soccer ball with red X Sun Wen
soccer ball with check mark Serlenga
soccer ball with red X Hooper
soccer ball with check mark Blalack

Awards

Award Player Club
Most Valuable Player United States Tiffeny Milbrett New York Power
Offensive Player of the Year United States Tiffeny Milbrett New York Power
Defensive Player of the Year Germany Doris Fitschen Philadelphia Charge
Goalkeeper of the Year United States LaKeysia Beene Bay Area CyberRays
Coach of the Year England Ian Sawyers Bay Area CyberRays
Humanitarian Award United States Kate Sobrero Boston Breakers
Team Community Service Award Washington Freedom
Team Fair Play Award New York Power

Source:[9]

Statistical leaders

See also

References

  1. ^ "ATL schedule & results". WUSA. Archived from the original on December 17, 2001. Retrieved December 22, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ "BAY schedule & results". WUSA. Archived from the original on October 7, 2001. Retrieved December 22, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ "BOS schedule & results". WUSA. Archived from the original on October 7, 2001. Retrieved May 18, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ "CAR schedule & results". WUSA. Archived from the original on October 7, 2001. Retrieved May 18, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ "NYP schedule & results". WUSA. Archived from the original on November 1, 2001. Retrieved May 18, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ "PHI schedule & results". WUSA. Archived from the original on October 7, 2001. Retrieved May 18, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ^ "SDS schedule & results". WUSA. Archived from the original on August 5, 2001. Retrieved May 18, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ^ "WSH schedule & results". WUSA. Archived from the original on October 7, 2001. Retrieved May 18, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ "Milbrett Tops List of WUSA Post-Season Honorees". United States Soccer Federation. August 23, 2001. Archived from the original on December 21, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  10. ^ "2001 standings". WUSA. Archived from the original on December 1, 2001. Retrieved December 17, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)