The excitement is growing as we are just one day away from the 2025 W League Playoffs presented by VensureHR. Our final Playoff Preview ahead of the first round is the Western Conference.    

Don’t miss out on W League Playoffs news! Read the Central Conference, Eastern Conference and Southern Conference previews and follow along throughout the postseason on our playoffs hub page.   

Stockton Cargo SC will host the Western Conference playoff matches at St. Mary’s High School in Stockton, CA. The hosts will play Santa Clarita Blue Heat FC at 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET on Friday after the match between Utah United and FC Olympia at 4:00 p.m. PT/7:00 p.m. ET. 

Tickets can be purchased here. 

Utah United vs. FC Olympia 

Utah United, the lone W League club from the state, is one of four expansion teams to make it to the playoffs this year. Utah will be facing FC Olympia, the most experienced Western Conference club in the playoffs, as it just clinched its third consecutive Northwest Division title. 

Utah (9-1-0) showed it was going to be a force in the Mountain Division after it outscored its opponents 21-0 in its first three matches and then won 4-1 against last year’s runner-up Colorado Storm. The team also scored the most goals in the league (61) while only conceding five. Striker Seven Castain and defender Kaitlyn Richins have played large roles in both those feats, as Castain scored 17 goals and Richins played over 700 minutes holding down the backline. 

FC Olympia is looking to get back to its top form after dropping a couple of results at the end of the regular season. The team’s experience will come in handy in these playoffs, as it is the only one in the conference that has been here before. The Artesians will likely be looking to striker Ginny Lackey, who has scored 10 goals this season, and goalkeeper Faith Nguyen to help them get out of the conference rounds for the first time. 

Stockton Cargo SC vs. Santa Clarita Blue Heat FC 

The last time two California teams faced off against each other in the W League playoffs was the 2023 Conference Finals, and neither of those teams are here today. Stockton is set to make its playoff debut against expansion team SC Blue Heat this Friday.  

The Cargo had their best season in the last three years this summer as they went 10-0-2 to win the NorCal Division. Now, the team has a chance to continue its season at home, where it is 5-0-1 and has scored 20 goals. Stockton has a plethora of scorers – Vanessa Penuna, Mika Sayfurahman, Hannah Diaz – which will be the biggest challenge for the visitors. 

The SoCal Division came down to the last weekend, as Blue Heat’s 4-2 win over the SoCal Dutch Lions sent the team to the playoffs. Blue Heat (8-1-1) has a strong core of Megan Santa Cruz, Madison Foxhoven and Breezie Brewer, who have started every match and have each played over 800 minutes this summer. The team’s biggest challenge will be playing until the final whistle, as Stockton has changed and earned results in the final 10 minutes in multiple matches this season.