By Scott French, Senior Editor GAME OF THE YEAR? Julie Foudy's stoppage-time penalty kick — her second goal of the afternoon — wrapped up a wild affair Saturday in San Diego, with both teams twice surrendering leads before the Spirit pulled out a 5-4 victory over Boston. WUSA records were set for goals in a match and in a half (six, in the first). The win was San Diego's first since May 19 — and its first in five games under GM/interim coach Kevin Crow — and improved the Spirit to 4-0-1 lifetime against the Breakers. ''I've been saying that we've been playing better than the score has shown,'' Crow said afterward. ''Today we converted offensively, which is where our struggle has been. We also gave up some silly goals, which has been our nemesis. But right now, if we have to win, 8-7, I couldn't care less. It gives me an ulcer, but …'' San Diego has given up 28 goals in 13 games. It surrendered 28 in 21 matches last season. The Spirit has scored 11 of its 19 goals in two matches, a 6-1 romp over New York in April and this one — its only nationally televised home games. HOT! HOT! HOT! Kristine Lilly has been the pivotal player for Boston, scoring or assisting on seven of the Breakers' 10 goals in their past three games. She scored twice and added an assist in the loss to San Diego. BEST GOAL: Krista Davey's 86th-minute cracker in New York's 3-1 loss Sunday at Philadelphia gets our vote. She ripped a 26-yard half-volley, from a pretty Tiffeny Milbrett feed, that dipped over Charge goalkeeper Melissa Moore and landed in the right-side netting. QUICK WORK: The other three goals in Philly's win belonged to French striker Marinette Pichon, who netted her 10th, 11th and 12th goals in the final 14 minutes to take the lead in the WUSA scoring race and become the Charge's all-time scoring leader after a dozen games. The victory equalled Philadelphia's 2001 win total and kept it on top in the WUSA standings. Pichon's third goal, in stoppage time, was the 41st New York has given up, breaking Carolina's mark for defensive ineptitude with a third of the season remaining. RIISE REDUX: MVP frontrunner Hege Riise beat San Jose with a late goal for the second time this season, finishing Birgit Prinz's rebound in the 88th minute to give Carolina a 2-1 victory on the Fourth of July. The Courage went 5-1 in a tough six-games-in-20-days stretch and has won four in a row, equalling Philadelphia's WUSA mark set at the start of the season. Riise's 85th-minute free kick off the underside of the crossbar delivered a 2-1 triumph in San Jose on April 27. Prinz and Danielle Fotopoulos extended their points streaks to eight games, breaking a WUSA record held by three players. Philly midfielder Kelly Smith also had an eight-game streak, including a playoff game. Prinz, who tallied just before halftime, has scored seven goals in eight career WUSA matches. San Jose managed just three goals, two by Tisha Venturini-Hoch, on a 0-2-1 East Coast trek. The CyberRays fell to .500, just like Atlanta, heading into Wednesday's Founders Cup rematch at Spartan Stadium. PLAYOFF CONTENTION: Defender Emmy Barr scored one goal and assisted on Bai Jie's in the first 19 minutes as Washington beat Atlanta, 2-1, its fourth win in five games and its first victory against the Beat in five meetings. Goalkeeper Erin Fahey, playing in place of injured Siri Mullinix, also was a hero, stopping Charmaine Hooper's eighth-minute penalty kick. The victory pushed the Freedom into third place, nine points behind the leaders but two ahead of Atlanta and three in front of San Jose in the battle for the final two playoff berths. The Beat and CyberRays have played one fewer match than Washington. Freedom coach Jim Gabarra was ejected eight minutes into the second half after repeated warnings to tone down his comments to the officials. WUSA SUMMARIES WEEK 13: Sweep by the home teams July 3 at Washington
WASHINGTON (6-5-3, 21 pts.) 2 ATLANTA (6-6-1, 19 pts.) 1. Goals: Barr (Makinen) 11, Bai (Barr, Wambach) 19; own goal Jones 49.
Red Card: Washington — Coach Gabarra 53.
Att.: 6,578. July 4 at Cary, N.C.
CAROLINA (9-2-3, 30 pts.) 2 SAN JOSE (5-5-3, 18 pts.) 1. Goals: Prinz (Fotopoulos, Fettig) 42, Riise (Prinz) 88; Venturini-Hoch (Chastain, Sissi) 48.
Att.: 6,211. July 6 at San Diego
SAN DIEGO (3-7-3, 12 pts.) 5 BOSTON (3-6-5, 14 pts.) 4. Goals: Boxx 17, Foudy (Kester) 23, Fawcett (Boxx) 39, Lindsey (MacMillan) 56, Foudy pen. 92+; Lilly 13, Lilly 28, Meinert (Lilly, Wiegmann) 36, Yohe (Hucles, Meinert) 66.
Att.: 6,149. July 7 at Villanova, Pa.
PHILADELPHIA (9-1-3, 30 pts.) 3 NEW YORK (2-11-1, 7 pts.) 1. Goals: Pichon (Mitts) 77, Pichon (Clemens, Zhao) 79, Pichon (L. Fair) 91+.
Att.: 6,303.