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2018 UWS Playoffs Update

07/16/2018, 11:45am EDT
By Admin

Inferno, CT meet in East Conference Championship Game, GRFC repeat as Midwest Playoff Champs

METUCHEN, NJ – With three of the four spots confirmed in the 2018 UWS National Championship Field, the last spot will be on the line at the East Conference Championship Game on Tuesday, July 17. The Inferno Rush (7-3-0, 21 points) won the East Conference Regular Season title back on Week IX and earned hosting rights for the match, as they will welcome in the Connecticut Fusion (6-3-1, 19 points), who secured their spot this past weekend with road victories over New England and Worcester.

The match will take place at Millersville University’s Pucillo Field with kickoff set for 7pm ET. Admission is Free to all in attendance for the match. For those who cannot attend can watch the stream live on Mycujoo, which can be found here.

The winner of the match will round out the field 2018 UWS National Championship, which will take place on the weekend of July 21-22 at the East Lansing Soccer Complex in East Lansing, MI. The other three teams participating in the tournament are the Houston Aces (Southwest Conference Champions), Calgary Foothills Women’s FC (West Conference Champions) and Grand Rapids FC Women (Midwest Conference Playoff Champions).

Grand Rapids FC Women secured their spot in the field after winning their second consecutive Midwest Conference Playoff title this past weekend. In their semifinal match against the Detroit Sun this past Thursday night, GRFC quickly responded after Tori Singstock’s tenth minute goal by getting an 11th minute equalizer from Lizzie Paul. Paul then gave her team a 2-1 lead with 15 minutes to go in the second half but five minutes from full time, Detroit’s Rachel DeLuca netted a dramatic equalizer to force extra time. The 2-2 scoreline held through the two, 15-minute extra time periods and the contest was settled on penalty kicks. GRFC’s Maia Perez came up big for her team with a pair of saves and the reigning UWS Champions advanced to the Playoff Final over Detroit 4-3 on penalties.

They met top-seeded Lansing United on Saturday night in the Final, who cruised past the Michigan Legends 3-0 in their semifinal contest on the strength of goals from Lexi Pelafas, Riko Sagara and Madison Costner. The final produced a tight first half but it was Grand Rapids who took a late lead into halftime on Samantha Maher’s 43rd minute tally. Lansing came out firing out of the locker room and equalized less than two minutes into the second half from substitute Brittany Tanner. But GRFC turned on the style and ran off three unanswered goals, one from Maher in the 49th minute and two from Marti Corby in the last 15 minutes, to put the match away. Lansing trimmed their deficit to 4-2 with a stoppage time goal from Pelafas but it wasn’t enough to stop GRFC from lifting the Midwest Conference Playoffs crown for the second straight year.

On Wednesday, July 18, the league will officially announce the matchups for UWS National Semifinals, which will take place on Saturday, July 21. The first semifinal will kick off at 4:30 PM EDT and the second semifinal will start at 7:30 PM EDT. The winners of the two semifinals will meet on Sunday, July 22 at 7:30 PM EDT for the 2018 UWS National Title. 

Tickets for the 2018 UWS National Championships are now available to purchase, with single day tickets available for $10 and a two-day pass costs $15.

To purchase tickets for Saturday's Semifinals, click HERE.

To purchase tickets for Sunday's Final, click HERE.

To purchase a Two-Day pass, which gets you in for all three matches, click HERE.

About United Women's Soccer:

UWS is a national women’s soccer league sanctioned by U.S. Soccer. UWS is a professionally operated league created for teams that meet high minimum standards. The season runs from May until the end of July, culminating in a National Championship match. The UWS player pool is comprised of college players, aspiring & former professionals and international stars. You can follow UWS on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Media can contact the UWS Communications office by e-mail at UWSPress@gmail.com. You can visit the league’s official website at UWSSoccer.com. Interested team applicants can contact League Commissioner Joe Ferrara, Jr. by e-mail at Joe@UWSSoccer.com.

Tag(s): News |   East  Lancaster Inferno  Midwest  Grand Rapids FC  Connecticut Fusion