Abby Wambach's 85th-minute goal carried Washington to a 2-2 draw at Boston as the Freedom and Breakers took a step toward clinching WUSA playoff berths in action on Wednesday.
San Diego and New York also tied, 1-1, in Southern California, a game marred by an apparent torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered by Spirit forward Allie Sullivan.
Wednesday's highlights:
Boston 2 Washington 2: Wambach headed home a Mia Hamm free kick late in the match to give the Freedom (7-6-4, 25 points) a draw before 9,070 at Nickerson Field.
The second-place Breakers (7-4-5, 27 points), who have lost just one of its past nine matches, trail league-leading Atlanta by five points. Both squads have four games remaining.
Washington, tied for third with San Diego, also has four matches to play. The Spirit has only three games remaining. The regular season ends Aug. 10.
Maren Meinert fed Dagny Mellgren for one of Boston goals, and she earned a penalty kick finished by Kristine Lilly — her first goal of the season — for the other.
Mellgren's goal, in the 40th minute, was her league-leading 11th of the season and her record 34th in the WUSA.
Defender Jen Grubb pulled the Freedom even seven minutes into the second half with a spectacular 30-yard shot that dropped over outstretched goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc. Lilly's penalty kick, after Grubb fouled Meinert, put the Breakers ahead.
San Diego 1 New York 1: Julie Fleeting scored her ninth goal of the year, but an early mistake cost the Spirit (6-5-7, 25 points) before 5,793 at Torero Stadium.
Tiffeny Milbrett scored for the visiting Power (7-8-3, 24 points) in the fourth minute — the eighth goal San Diego has surrendered in the first 10 minutes this season, the third in the first five minutes — and New York, led by Shannon Boxx and Jaclyn Raveia, held off the dominant Spirit to earn a point.
New York is one point out of the playoff zone and has three games remaining, a home-and-home with first-place Atlanta and a home game against second-place Boston.
Sullivan, a speedy forward the Spirit has used off the bench all season, appeared to tear the ACL in her left knee in the 85th minute. She was chasing a ball on the right wing, just outside New York's box, but Boxx slid in ahead of her to clear it.
Sullivan leapt over Boxx, but she caught the New York midfielder with her right leg. As she landed on her left leg, the knee buckled. Players and team officials acknowledged afterward that the injury appeared to be a torn ACL, although a magnetic resonance imaging test will be conducted to confirm the injury and assess damage. No date for the MRI test has been announced.
If the injury is an ACL, Sullivan will join teammate Shannon MacMillan on the sidelines. MacMillan tore her ACL in mid-May and is working to return in time for the Women's World Cup.
Eight players, if the tear is confirmed, have missed time this season with ACL injuries. In addition to MacMillan and Sullivan, Carolina's Hege Riise and Danielle Fotopoulos and Philadelphia's Deliah Arrington snapped theirs during WUSA matches. San Jose's Pretinha tore hers in Brazil's friendly against the United States earlier this month.
New York's Sara Whalen missed this season after complications following her surgery last summer. Her Power teammate Kristy Whelchel, hurt in a pickup game last fall, returned to action last weekend and came on in the 79th minute on Wednesday.
Milbrett's fifth goal of the season was scored after Kim Pickup, trying to clear the ball from San Diego's box, hit nearby Anita Rapp in the face. Rapp collected the ball, rounded Pickup on the outside with one touch, then sent a cross from the left wing with her next touch. Milbrett raced in and one-timed the ball past Spirit goalkeeper Jenni Branam.
Milbrett, with a hamstring twang, departed at halftime, replaced by ''supplemental'' forward Tara Koleski, who scored an apparent second goal in the 48th minute. Referee Rachel Woo waved it off, ruling Koleski fouled a defender before shooting. Power players afterward said it was Branam who knocked down her own defender.
Fleeting scored in the 58th minute following a marvelous Aly Wagner pass, from deep on the right flank to space on the left in front of New York's box. Fleeting's initial shot was slapped by Webber off Raveia, but Fleeting's rebound found the net off a deflection as defenders slid at the ball.
WEDNESDAY'S SUMMARIES:
July 23 at Boston
Boston 2 Washington 2. Goals: Mellgren (Meinert, Monroe) 40, Lilly pen. 58; Grubb 52, Wambach (Hamm) 85.
Boston — LeBlanc; Kluegel, Sobrero, McCann, Aldama; Hawkins (McDowell, 78); Monroe, Hucles, Lilly; Meinert, Mellgren.
Washington — Mullinix; S. Little, Grubb, Minnert (Lindsey, 68), Moore; Jones, Stoecker (Zimny, 58); J. Little (Noftsinger, 88), Hamm; Beard, Wambach.
Yellow cards — Boston: Sobrero 84; Washington: Grubb 57.
Referee — Misail Tsapos.
A — 9,070.
July 23 at San Diego
San Diego 1 New York 1. Goals: Fleeting 58; Milbrett (Rapp) 4.
San Diego — Branam; Pickup, Fawcett, Krzykowski; Foudy, Daniela (Nielsen, 80); Zhang (Sullivan, 58; Rohbock, 86), Wagner, Connors; Fleeting, Latham.
New York — Webber; Pearce, Raveia, Orlandos (Whelchel, 79), Tietjen; Janss, Boxx, Baumgardt (Jones, 61), Rapp (Proost, 82); Been, Milbrett (Koleski, 46).
Yellow cards — None.
Referee — Rachel Woo.
A — 5,793.
WUSA STANDINGS
Pl W-L-T Pts (GF-GA)
1. Atlanta 17 9-3-5 32 (31-13)
2. Boston 17 7-4-6 27 (27-26)
3. Washington 17 7-6-4 25 (32-27)
4. San Diego 18 6-5-7 25 (24-23)
5. New York 18 7-8-3 24 (29-38)
6. Carolina 16 6-7-3 21 (26-27)
7. San Jose 16 6-8-2 20 (19-21)
8. Philadelphia 17 3-10-4 13 (23-36)
THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Wednesday, July 23
Boston 2 Washington 2
San Diego 1 New York 1
Saturday, July 26
Atlanta at New York, 7 p.m.
Carolina at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
San Diego at Washington, 7 p.m.
Sunday, July 27
Boston at San Jose, 6 p.m.
I>All times Eastern
LEADING SCORERS
G-A–Pts
1. Mia Hamm (Washington) 7-10–24
Dagny Mellgren (Boston) 11-2–24
Abby Wambach (Washington) 10-4–24
4. Maren Meinert (Boston) 8-7–23
5. Julie Fleeting (San Diego) 9-4–22
Marinette Pichon (Philadelphia) 10-2–22
7. Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 7-7–21
Birgit Prinz (Carolina) 9-3–21
Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 7-6–20
10. Maribel Dominguez (Atlanta) 7-4–18
11. Melanie Hoffmann (Philadelphia) 5-5–15
Tiffeny Milbrett (New York) 5-5–15
Pretinha (San Jose) 5-5–15
14. Conny Pohlers (Atlanta) 4-5–13
15. Christine Latham (San Diego) 5-2–12
Christie Welsh (New York) 6-0–12
17. Sissi (San Jose) 3-5–11
18. Cindy Parlow (Atlanta) 3-4–10
Stacey Tullock (Philadelphia) 3-4–10
20. Jacqui Little (Washington) 2-5–9
Lindsay Stoecker (Washington) 4-1–9
22. Abby Crumpton (Atlanta) 3-2–8
Krista Davey (New York) 3-2–8
Julie Foudy (San Jose) 3-2–8
Katia (San Jose) 3-2–8
Anita Rapp (New York) 2-4–8
Homare Sawa (Atlanta) 3-2–8
28. Shannon Boxx (New York) 0-7–7
Venus James (Carolina) 3-1–7
Emily Janss (New York) 3-1–7
Margaret Tietjen (New York) 1-5–7
Aly Wagner (San Diego) 2-3–7
33. Nel Fettig (Carolina) 2-2–6
Kelly Golebiowski (Washington) 2-2–6
Angela Hucles (Boston) 1-4–6
Joanne Peters (New York) 2-2–6
Zhang Ouying (San Diego) 1-4–6
Keri Sanchez (San Jose) 1-4–6
Tisha Venturini-Hoch (San Jose) 2-2–6
40. Katie Barnes (San Jose) 2-1–5
Justi Baumgardt (New York) 1-3–5
Erin Baxter (Carolina) 2-1–5
Kylie Bivens (Atlanta) 1-3–5
Brandi Chastain (San Jose) 1-3–5
Jen Grubb (Washington) 2-1–5
Steffi Jones (Washington) 1-3–5
Unni Lehn (Carolina) 0-5–5
Kristine Lilly (Boston) 1-3–5
Lori Lindsey (Washington) 2-1–5
Shannon MacMillan (San Diego) 1-3–5
Mary-Frances Monroe (Philadelphia) 1-3–5
Jaclyn Raveia (New York) 2-1–5
Cheryl Salisbury (New York) 2-1–5
Allie Sullivan (San Diego) 1-3–5
Goals
1. Dagny Mellgren (Boston) 11
Marinette Pichon (Philadelphia) 10
Abby Wambach (Washington) 10
4. Julie Fleeting (San Diego) 9
5. Birgit Prinz (Carolina) 9
Maren Meinert (Boston) 8
7. Maribel Dominguez (Atlanta) 7
Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 7
Mia Hamm (Washington) 7
Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 7
Assists
1. Mia Hamm (Washington) 10
2. Shannon Boxx (New York) 7
Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 7
Maren Meinert (Boston) 7
5. Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 6
6. Melanie Hoffman (Philadelphia) 5
Unni Lehn (Carolina) 5
Jacqui Little (Washington) 5
Tiffeny Milbrett (New York) 5
Pretinha (San Jose) 5
Sissi (San Jose) 5
Margaret Tietjen (New York) 5