VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – While the semifinal between Pali and Washington features numerous players with a W-League Championship on their resume, the other semifinal between the FC Indiana Lionesses and Seattle Sounders features far more who may be frustrated from years of coming so close. Between the two clubs, 15 players have made a total of 30 trips to the W-League final four without a championship.
While FC Indiana may be new to the W-League and have won championships in their previous league, the club brought in several standout players to bolster their squad for the increased competition in the form of three veteran stars from the Ottawa Fury and one from the Chicago Gaels.
Eleven players on the Seattle roster have experienced at least one trip to the semifinals with seven having also played on the squad both years, including the top four leading scorers Chalise Baysa, Dani Bridges, Michelle French and Kelli Smith. Fifth-year Sounder Erin Gamble is the lone player from the 2003 squad, having returned for the final three games of the season this year after a two-year absence, helping guide the team to its two highest scoring matches of the campaign.
The goal that got the Sounders to the Final Four:
Read the entire Seattle- FC Indiana preview here.
Read about the other semifinal here.
More on the Sounders Women...
EL PASO - Former UTEP soccer goalkeeper Jessica Salvi was recently named US W-League's Player of the Week for making seven stops in a 1-0 playoff win between her Seattle team and preseason favorite Vancouver.
The efforts against Vancouver, a team which features several members of the Canadian National Team, led the Sounders into the W-League's Final Four. Seattle will now battle perennial power FC Indiana in a showdown that has a distinct UTEP flavor to it.
W-League playoff links:
Bracket (PDF)
Media Kit (PDF)
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For the 3rd straight year the Sounders fell in their semifinal match. This time FC Indiana beat them 1-0.
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