# 2017 United Women's Soccer season

The 2017 United Women's Soccer season was the 23nd season of pro-am women's soccer in the United States, and the 2nd season of the UWS league.

## Changes from 2016

* Detroit Sun FC, FC Indiana, Fort Wayne United Soccer Club, Grand Rapids FC, Indy Premier SC, Michigan Legends FC, and Toledo Villa FC joined the league and were placed in the newly formed Midwest Conference.
* Syracuse Developmental Academy, Western New York Flash, and Rochester Lady Lancers joined the league and were placed in the East Conference.
* Calgary Foothills WFC and So Cal Crush FC joined the league and were placed in the West Conference.
* The league championship moved to a four-team format, with one representative from each conference (the West conference champions, the winner of the four-team Midwest playoffs, and the winner of a two-team East playoff) and a fourth wild-card team to be determined by record, strength of schedule, travel concerns, and other factors. These four teams are then seeded and play two semifinal matches, with the winners playing in the finals for the league title.

## Standings
### East Conference

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | New Jersey Copa FC | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 7 | +16 | 25 | 2017 East Conference playoffs |
| 2 | Long Island Rough Riders | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 10 | +25 | 22 | 2017 East Conference playoffs |
| 3 | New England Mutiny | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 10 | +13 | 21 | |
| 4 | New York Surf | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 25 | 12 | +13 | 20 | |
| 5 | Western New York Flash | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 21 | −3 | 14 | |
| 6 | Lancaster Inferno | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 23 | −5 | 12 | |
| 7 | Rochester Lady Lancers | 10 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 35 | −25 | 1 | |
| 8 | New York Magic | 10 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 38 | −34 | 1 | |

### Midwest Conference

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Grand Rapids FC | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 7 | +25 | 25 | 2017 Midwest Conference playoffs |
| 2 | Detroit Sun FC | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 12 | +11 | 21 | 2017 Midwest Conference playoffs |
| 3 | Michigan Legends FC | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 15 | 2017 Midwest Conference playoffs |
| 4 | FC Indiana | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 20 | −7 | 12 | 2017 Midwest Conference playoffs |
| 5 | Toledo Villa FC | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 16 | 22 | −6 | 10 | |
| 6 | Fort Wayne United FC Gryphons | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 25 | −16 | 10 | |
| 7 | Indy Premier SC | 10 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 21 | −12 | 7 | |

### West Conference

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Santa Clarita Blue Heat | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 5 | +13 | 24 | 2017 UWS national playoffs |
| 2 | Calgary Foothills WFC | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 13 | |
| 3 | Real Salt Lake | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 10 | +5 | 10 | |
| 4 | Houston Aces | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 19 | +2 | 9 | |
| 5 | SoCal Crush | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 28 | −21 | 3 | |

## Playoffs
### East Conference Playoffs

| Final July 18 | Final July 18 | Final July 18 |
| 1 | New Jersey Copa FC | 1 |
| 2 | Long Island Rough Riders | 5 |
Bold = winner * = after extra time, ( ) = penalty shootout score

### Midwest Conference Playoffs

Hosted by Grandville High School in Grandville, Michigan
| Semifinal July 15 | Semifinal July 15 | Semifinal July 15 | Final July 16 | Final July 16 | Final July 16 |
| 1 | Grand Rapids FC | 11 | | | |
| 4 | FC Indiana | 0 | | | |
| 4 | FC Indiana | 0 | 1 | Grand Rapids FC | 1 |
| | | | 2 | Detroit Sun FC | 0 |
| 2 | Detroit Sun FC | 1 | 2 | Detroit Sun FC | 0 |
| 3 | Michigan Legends FC | 0 | | | |
Bold = winner * = after extra time, ( ) = penalty shootout score

### National Playoffs

Hosted by Grandville High School in Grandville, Michigan. Classified to the semifinals are Grand Rapids FC (Midwest Conference champion), Santa Clarita (West Conference champion), Long Island Rough Riders (East Conference champion) and Detroit Sun FC invited by United Women's Soccer as a wildcard.
| Semifinal July 21 | Semifinal July 21 | Semifinal July 21 | Final July 22 | Final July 22 | Final July 22 |
| MW | Grand Rapids FC | 2 (3) | | | |
| E | Long Island Rough Riders | 2 (2) | | | |
| E | Long Island Rough Riders | 2 (2) | MW | Grand Rapids FC | 3* |
| | | | W | Santa Clarita Blue Heat | 1 |
| W | Santa Clarita Blue Heat | 3 | W | Santa Clarita Blue Heat | 1 |
| WC | Detroit Sun FC | 0 | | | |
Bold = winner * = after extra time, ( ) = penalty shootout score

#### UWS Championship

Championship MVP: Michaela Kovacs (Grand Rapids FC)

## Statistical leaders
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Nation | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Bethany Balcer | USA | Grand Rapids FC | 14 |
| 2 | Carissima Cutrona | USA | Western New York Flash | 11 |
| 3 | Haley Crawford | USA | Lancaster Inferno | 10 |
| 3 | Kate Howarth | USA | New England Mutiny | 10 |
| 3 | Morgan Santoro | USA | Long Island Rough Riders | 10 |
| 6 | Madison Schupbach | USA | Detroit Sun FC | 9 |
| 7 | Skylar Fleak | USA | Toledo Villa FC | 8 |
| 7 | Erica Murphy | USA | New York Surf | 8 |
| 9 | Joelle Gosselin | CAN | Calgary Foothills WFC | 7 |
| 9 | Kayla Saager | USA | Long Island Rough Riders | 7 |
| 9 | Tori Singstock | USA | Michigan Legends FC | 7 |
Source:

## League awards
### Individual awards

* Player of the Year: Deyna Castellanos (SAC)
* Defensive Player of the Year: Caitlyn Clem (DET)
* Coach of the Year: Lewis Robinson (GRA)

### All-League First Team

F: Bethany Balcer (GRA), Carissima Cutrona (WNY) M: Jackie Bruno (NJC), Deyna Castellanos (SAC), Kimberly Marra (LIR), Annie Steinlage (GRA) D: Michaela Kovacs (GRA), Natalia Kuikka (SAC), Rebecca Raber (NJC), Lauren Sesselmann (SAC) G: Caitlyn Clem (DET)

### All-League Second Team

F: Haley Crawford (LAN), Joelle Gosselin (CAL), Madison Schupbach (DET) M: Brenna Brown (NEM), Chloe Castaneda (SAC), Dani Evans (DET) D: Jennifer Cafferky (NEM), Taylor Groth (LIR), Natalie Norris (RSL), Brooke Salmon (NYS) G: Emily Burns (CAL)