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The 2008 W-League Season was the league's 14th. The regular season began on May 10, 2008, and ended on July 20.

Pali Blues finished the season as national champions, beating FC Indiana 2–1 in the W-League Championship game in Virginia Beach, Virginia on 2 August 2008.

The Pali Blues also finished with the best regular season record in the league, winning all 12 of their matches, and finishing with a +35 goal difference.

Atlanta Silverbacks Women's striker Sarah Steinmann was the league's top scorer, with 19 goals. FC Indiana's Laura Del Rio led the league with 13 assists, while Pali Blues goalkeeper Valerie Henderson enjoyed the best goalkeeping statistics, with a goals-against average of 0.142 per game, and posting 6 shutouts.

Changes from 2007 season

Nine teams were added for the season:

Team Name	Metro Area	Location	Previous Affiliation
Carolina Dynamo	Greensboro area	Greensboro, NC	expansion
Carolina RailHawks	Research Triangle area	Cary, NC	expansion
Connecticut Passion	Hartford and New Haven areas	Berlin, CT	expansion
FC Indiana	Indianapolis area	Indianapolis, IN	previously in WPSL
Kalamazoo Outrage	Kalamazoo area	Kalamazoo, MI	expansion
Los Angeles Legends	suburban Los Angeles area	Azusa, CA	expansion
Pali Blues	Los Angeles area	Los Angeles, CA	expansion
Tampa Bay Hellenic	Tampa Bay area	Tampa, FL	expansion
West Virginia Illusion	Morgantown/North-Central West Virginia areas	Fairmont, WV	expansion

Three teams folded after the 2007 season: Mile High Edge, and San Diego Sunwaves. Cocoa Expos Women left the league for the WPSL.

Standings

Orange indicates W-League title and bye into W-League semifinals.
Blue indicates division title clinched
Green indicates playoff berth clinched

Central Conference

Midwest Division

1. ^ Fort Wayne and West Michigan did not play each other a second time, as the game could not be rescheduled before July 20 and would not affect the playoffs.

Northern Division

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

Northeast Division

Western Conference

Playoffs

Format

Five teams each from the Central and Eastern Conferences, and two from the Western Conference, qualify for the playoffs.

In the Central Conference, the second and third place teams from the Northern Division play a one-leg playoff with the winner advancing to the Conference Semifinals, where they will play the Midwest Division champion. The other semifinal will have the second place team from the Midwest Division playing the Northern Division champion.

In the Eastern Conference, the second and third place teams from the Northeast Division play a one-leg playoff with the winner advancing to play the Atlantic Division champion. The other semifinal will have the second place team from the Atlantic Division playing the Northeast Division champion.

The two teams in the Western Conference will play each other to advance to the W-League Semifinals.

The Regular Season champion, Pali Blues, receive a bye into the W-League semifinals, with the second and third place teams from the Western Conference receiving playoff berths.

Conference Brackets

Central Conference

Central Divisional Round

Central Semifinals

Central Championship

MW1

FC Indiana

5

NO3

Laval Comets

1

NO2

Toronto Lady Lynx

0

NO3

Laval Comets

2

MW1

FC Indiana (AET)

4

NO1

Ottawa Fury Women

3

NO1

Ottawa Fury Women

3

MW2

Chicago Gaels

2

Eastern Conference

Eastern Divisional Round

Eastern Semifinals

Eastern Championship

AT1

Atlanta Silverbacks Women

1

NE2

Long Island Rough Riders

0

NE2

Long Island Rough Riders

1

NE3

Boston Renegades

0

AT1

Atlanta Silverbacks Women

1

NE1

Washington Freedom (AET)

2

NE1

Washington Freedom (AET)

6

AT2

Charlotte Lady Eagles

5

Western Conference

	Western Finals
	W1	Vancouver Whitecaps Women	0
	W2	Seattle Sounders Women	1

Pali captured the W-League regular season title and bye into W-League semifinals, enabling Vancouver to take their spot in the Conference Playoffs, and allowing Seattle to clinch a playoff berth.

W-League Championship Bracket

	Semifinals					Championship
	WL	Pali Blues	2
	NE1	Washington Freedom	0
						WL	Pali Blues	2
						MW1	FC Indiana	1
	MW1	FC Indiana	1
	W2	Seattle Sounders Women	0			Consolation
						NE1	Washington Freedom	2
						W1	Seattle Sounders Women	0

Divisional Rounds

Boston Renegades	0 – 1	Long Island Rough Riders
	(Report)	DeRosa

Laval Comets	2 – 0	Toronto Lady Lynx
Gagné 8' 40' Walsh  89'	(Report)	Chapman  40'  89' Afonso  66'

Conference semifinals

Chicago Gaels	2 – 3	Ottawa Fury Women
Mutters  12' Spacht 26' Trevillian  74' Maynard 89' (PK)	(Report)	Taylor 12' 62' (PK) Powell 15'

Charlotte Lady Eagles	5 – 6 (AET)	Washington Freedom
Rife 11' Schmedes 29' Murphy 59' 107' Lyons 66'	(Report)	Welsh 2' 16' 103' Keller 22' Moros 70' (PK) Janss 97'

Laval Comets	1 – 5	FC Indiana
Gagné 55' (PK)	(Report)	Hamel 14' Sesselmann 16' 25'  27' Parker 63' Phewa 72'

Long Island Rough Riders	0 – 1	Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Fitzgerald (coach)  82' Speck  90'	(Report)	Latham 51' Buff  70' Harbrueger  90'

Conference finals

Seattle Sounders Women	1 – 0	Vancouver Whitecaps Women
Baysa 67'  84'	(Report)

Washington Freedom	2 – 1 (AET)	Atlanta Silverbacks Women
Golebiowski  48' Welsh 77'  90' Andrzejewski 118'	(Report)	Bobo  16' Latham 23' Phillips  73'

Ottawa Fury Women	3 – 4 (AET)	FC Indiana
Kennedy  27' Milyak 53' (OG) Hance 65' Avner  85' Taylor 116' (PK) Raber  120'	(Report)	Sesselmann 15' Nault  63' Del Rio 90+2' 96' Phewa 101'

W-League Semifinals

Seattle Sounders Women	0 – 1	FC Indiana
		Phewa  16' Leyva 87'

Washington Freedom	0 – 2	Pali Blues
Welsh  76'	Report	Adams 26' 82'

W-League Third-Place Game

Seattle Sounders Women	0 – 2	Washington Freedom
		Welsh 11'  40' Huffman  76' Andrzejewski 86'

W-League Finals

FC Indiana	1 – 2	Pali Blues
O'Rourke 47'		Wilson  49' LePeilbet 83' Pasqui 88'

References

External links

• USL historical stats

• USL W-League (1995–2015) seasons
• 2008 in American soccer leagues
• 2008 in American women's soccer
• 2008 in Canadian women's soccer