2009 Women's Professional Soccer Playoffs
Introduction The '''2009 WPS Playoffs''' were the postseason to Women's Professional Soccer's 2009 Season, that started on August 15 and culminated on August 22 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
Format The top four WPS teams, based on their regular season finishes, qualified for the playoffs. In the First Round, the third-ranked team hosted the fourth-ranked team. The winner of that match advances to the Super Semifinal, where they traveled to the second-ranked team. Finally, the regular season first-ranked team hosted the winner of the Super Semifinal in the WPS Championship match.This format, fairly unusual in the American sports landscape, preserves the knockout-style postseason most American sports fans are familiar with, while also highly favoring the regular season first-ranked team.
Standings PlaceTeamGPWLTGFGAGDPoints1Los Angeles Sol2012352710 +17'''41'''2Saint Louis Athletica2010641915 +4'''33'''3Washington Freedom208753232 0'''29'''4Sky Blue FC207851920 -1'''26'''5Boston Breakers207941820 -2'''25'''6Chicago Red Stars2051051825 -7'''20'''7FC Gold Pride2041061728 -11'''18'''
Bracket
Results ===First round======Super Semifinal======WPS Championship==='''LOS ANGELES SOL:''' GK '''23'''  Karina LeBlancDF '''22'''  Manya MakoskiDF '''11'''  Brittany Bock  DF '''3'''  Allison Falk  DF '''14'''  Stephanie CoxMF '''6'''  McCall Zerboni   MF '''4'''  Aly Wagner   MF '''7'''  Shannon Boxx (c)MF '''8'''  Aya MiyamaFW '''10''' MartaFW '''9''' Han Duan   '''Substitutes:'''GK '''1''' Val HendersonDF '''2''' Keri SanchezDF '''19''' Sharolta Nonen   DF '''21''' Johanna FriskMF '''17''' Liz BogusMF '''18''' Katie Larkin   FW '''16''' Lyndsey Patterson   '''Manager:'''  Abner Rogers'''SKY BLUE FC:''' GK '''23'''  Jenni BranamDF '''17'''  Keeley DowlingDF '''4'''  Jen BuczkowskiDF '''3'''  Christie Rampone (c)DF '''12'''  Meghan SchnurMF '''20'''  Kacey WhiteMF '''10'''  Yael AverbuchMF '''24'''  FrancielleFW '''9''' Heather O'Reilly (MVP)   FW '''11''' Rosana   FW '''6'''  Natasha Kai   '''Substitutes:'''GK '''22''' Cori AlexanderDF '''38''' Julianne SitchMF '''7''' Kelly ParkerMF '''13''' Noelle Keselica   MF '''14''' Collette McCallum   FW '''15''' Katie HookerFW '''16''' Kerri Hanks   '''Manager:''' Christie Rampone'''MATCH OFFICIALS'''*Assistant referees:**Marlene Duffy**Veronica Perez*Fourth official: Margaret Domka'''MATCH RULES'''*90 minutes. *30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. *Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. *Seven named substitutes. *Maximum of three substitutions.
Media coverage Both the First Round and the WPS Championship was viewable on Fox Sports Network, while the Super Semifinal was on Fox Soccer Channel. Also, all three matches were webcast on the  WPS website.
Notes and references
See also *2009 Women's Professional Soccer season*Women's Professional Soccer