Martina Franko's 19th goal of the season lifted the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-0 victory Saturday night over the Seattle Sounders and into the W-League final four next weekend in Ottawa.
Franko scored just before halftime to lead the Whitecaps (14-0-1), missing four Canadian national-teamers, in the Western Conference final before 3,886 fans at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia.
The New Jersey Wildcats (15-0-0) and Montreal Xtreme (13-3-0) pulled out victories in the Eastern Conference semifinals in West Windsor, N.J., and will meet in Sunday's conference final, with the winner joining the Whitecaps and host Ottawa Fury (13-1-0) in the Aug. 7-8 final four at Carleton University.
The fourth semifinalist also will be determined Sunday when the Charlotte Lady Eagles (12-2-1) visit the Chicago Cobras (13-0-1) in the Central Conference final at Mooseheart (Ill.) Stadium.
Franko, who as Martina Holan was a star forward at Colorado College, scored with a sharp header from former Oakland University standout Ashley McGhee's corner kick in first-half stoppage time. Penn State goalkeeper Erin McLeod recorded her seventh shutout of the season.
The Whitecaps, who lost to Seattle in last year's Western final, were without Kara Lang, Brittany Timko, Katie Thorlakson and Sari Raber, who were with the Canadian team in Japan. Canada lost to the Japanese, 3-0.
The top-seeded New Jersey Wildcats scored a 2-0 victory over 2001 and 2002 W-League champion Boston Renegades at Mercer County Community College.
Finnish national-teamer Anne Makinen, a former Notre Dame star who played for Washington and Philadelphia in the WUSA, scored both goals, on an 16th-minute free kick and 55th-minute penalty kick. The PK was awarded when French star Marinette Pichon — Makinen's former Philadelphia Charge teammate — was spilled in the Boston box.
Montreal Xtreme moved within one victory of becoming the third Canadian team in the W-League final four, pulling out a wild 5-4 overtime triumph over the Long Island Lady Riders at MCCC.
Marie-Claude Pinard's 117th-minute header, from former WUSA midfielder Amy Walsh's cross, lifted the Xtreme, which surrendered four first-half goals and rallied from deficits three times.
There were three goals in the first eight minutes — with former Toledo standout Melissa Lesage scoring for Montreal between goals by Long Island's Kerri McCabe, a former Stony Brook standout, and Minna Mustonen, a Finnish national-teamer who played for the New York Power in 2002.
Lesage scored again in the 17th minute for a 2-2 tie, but former Florida International star Michele O'Brien fired the Lady Riders ahead again in the 26th, and former Hofstra standout Penny Stansfield extended the lead with a free kick nine minutes later.
Canadian U-19 player Caroline Vanderpool, a freshman at LSU this fall, scored goals in the 41st and 57th minutes to force overtime.