San Diego claimed its first WUSA playoff berth and Atlanta and Boston earned home assignments for the semifinals as Wednesday's results sorted out everything except postseason matchups.
The Spirit, idle on Wednesday, claimed the final semifinal berth when Carolina was beaten at Boston and San Jose managed only a tie at home against Atlanta. The Beat and Breakers gained home-field advantage when Washington lost at Philadelphia.
Atlanta and Boston (both 9-4-7, 34 points) play their final matches on Sunday, with the Beat home against New York and Boston at San Jose. Atlanta won the season series — the first tiebreaker in determining standings position — so it will be the No. 1 team if it and Boston finish level.
Washington (9-7-4, 31 points) will clinch third place with a win or tie on Saturday at San Diego (7-6-7, 28 points). The Spirit would finish third with a victory, which would give it an edge in the season series.
Wednesday's highlights:
Boston 1 Carolina 0: Dagny Mellgren scored her league-leading 14th goal of the season and the Breakers eliminated the defending champions before 6,587 at Nickerson Field.
Carolina (7-10-3, 24 points) becomes the second of two Founders Cup champions to fail to reach the postseason the following year. San Jose has missed the playoffs two successive seasons after claiming the inaugural title.
Boston will be at home for its WUSA playoff debut, Aug. 16 at 4 p.m. ET against Washington or San Diego.
Kristine Lilly set up Mellgren's 79th-minute strike following a superb run up the left wing from Heather Aldama's through ball.
The Breakers stretched their unbeaten streak to nine games. Carolina dropped its third in a row.
Philadelphia 2 Washington 0: Marinette Pichon netted her 13th and 14th goals of the season as the Charge (5-11-4, 19 points)posted its second successive home shutout over a playoff-bound team since it was eliminated from postseason contention.
Pichon, who also scored a pair of goals in a 3-0 romp Saturday over first-place Atlanta, scored in the 20th and 53rd minutes before 9,208 at Villanova Stadium, shouldering off a defender to finish a Pavlina Scasna through ball in the first half, then finishing a Scasna cross early in the second half.
Scasna, making only her second start of the season, earned her first WUSA points with the assists on Pichon's goals. Rookie Mary McVeigh also picked up her first WUSA point with an assist on the second goal.
Rookie Hope Solo earned her second successive shutout, making two lunging saves in the second half to keep the WUSA's top offensive team off the scoreboard.
Washington, held goalless for only the third time this season, lost its chance to be home for the semifinals when Atlanta tied San Jose later Wednesday. The Freedom had been unbeaten in its previous four matches, scoring 11 goals (six by Abby Wambach).
San Jose 1 Atlanta 1: Charmaine Hooper's early penalty kick stood up for the Beat, which completed a rough five-game road trek by clinching home-field advantage before 5,244 at Spartan Stadium.
The loss eliminated San Jose (7-9-4, 25 points), giving San Diego its berth.
Hooper converted a 10th-minute spot kick for her ninth goal of the season after CyberRays defender Amanda Cromwell took down Maribel Dominguez, who was facing an open goal after dribbling past goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene. FIFA guidelines call for a red card in such a situation, but referee Sandra Hunt didn't issue Cromwell a card of either color.
Katia tied the score in the 25th with a fine header from Brandi Chastain's cross from the left wing. The goal was Katia's fifth and her fourth in her past seven games. Chastain returned to the San Jose lineup after missing five games with a quadriceps and hip injury.
Atlanta lost a goal on a strange call by Hunt at the end of the first half. Kylie Bivens' free kick from just outside the box was in the air when Hunt blew her whistle to end the half. Dominguez headed home Bivens' feed, but it was for naught.
The Beat nearly scored two other first-half goals. Nikki Serlenga struck the left post in the 35th minute, and Dominguez (headed away by Keri Sanchez) and Hooper (cleared by Cromwell) saw shots cleared off the goal line.
Chastain hit the crossbar early in the second half.
Atlanta hasn't won in four games, scoring just once in that span from the run of play.
WEDNESDAY'S SUMMARIES
Aug. 6 at Boston
Boston 1 Carolina 0. Goal: Mellgren (Lilly, Aldama) 79.
Boston — LeBlanc; Kluegel, Sobrero, McCann, Aldama; Mugneret-Beghe, Hucles, Hawkins (Monroe, 55), Lilly; Meinert, Mellgren.
Carolina — Luckenbill; Burt, Fettig, Baxter, Slaton (McCullough, 80); O'Hanley (Borgman, 74), Overbeck (Boyd, 63), Roberts, Lehn; Prinz, James.
Yellow cards — None.
Referee — Todd Perry.
A — 6,587.
Aug. 6 at Villanova, Pa.
Philadelphia 2 Washington 0. Goals: Pichon (Scasna)20, Pichon (Scasna, McVeigh) 53.
Philadelphia — Solo; Fair, Mitts (Hall, 77), Tietjen-Prozzo, Kruze (Smith, 46); McVeigh; Burt (Misaki, 46), Tullock, Benson; Scasna (Hoffmann, 72), Pichon.
Washington — Mullinix; S. Little, Zimny (Lindsey, 71), Grubb, C. Moore; Stoecker (Meier, 61), Jones; Hamm, Golebiowski; J. Little (Beard, 76), Wambach.
Yellow cards — Washington: J. Little 51.
Referee — Terry Vaughn.
A — 9,208.
Aug. 6 at San Jose
San Jose 1 Atlanta 1. Goals: Katia (Chastain, French) 25; Hooper pen. 10.
San Jose — Beene; Sanchez, Bryan, Cromwell, Chastain (Bell, 81); Barr; Clemens (Barnes, 66), Sissi, French; Venturini-Hoch, Katia.
Atlanta — Scurry; Bivens, N. Augustyniak, Nonen, Gaston; Warren, Serlenga; Parlow (Crumpton, 74), Sawa; Hooper, Dominguez (Withers, 82).
Yellow cards — San Jose: Barr 46+; Atlanta: Bivens 27.
Referee — Sandra Hunt.
A — 5,244.
WUSA STANDINGS
Pl W-L-T Pts (GF-GA)
1. x-Atlanta 20 9-4-7 34 (33-18)
2. x-Boston 20 9-4-7 34 (32-29)
3. x-Washington 20 9-7-4 31 (39-29)
4. x-San Diego 20 7-6-7 28 (25-25)
5. San Jose 20 7-9-4 25 (23-29)
6. New York 20 7-9-4 25 (32-42)
7. Carolina 20 7-10-3 24 (30-32)
8. Philadelphia 20 5-11-4 19 (29-39)
x — clinched semifinal berth
THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Wednesday, Aug. 6
Boston 1 Carolina 0
Philadelphia 2 Washington 0
San Jose 1 Atlanta 1
Saturday, Aug. 9
Washington at San Diego, 4 p.m. (PAX TV)
Philadelphia at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 10
Boston at San Jose, 6 p.m.
New York at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m.
End regular season
All times Eastern
LEADING SCORERS
G-A–Pts
1. Mia Hamm (Washington) 11-11–33
2. Abby Wambach (Washington) 13-6–32
3. Dagny Mellgren (Boston) 14-2–30
Marinette Pichon (Philadelphia) 14-2–30
5. Maren Meinert (Boston) 9-10–28
6. Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 9-7–25
7. Julie Fleeting (San Diego) 10-4–24
Birgit Prinz (Carolina) 10-3–23
9. Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 7-6–20
10. Maribel Dominguez (Atlanta) 7-4–18
11. Tiffeny Milbrett (New York) 5-6–16
12. Melanie Hoffmann (Philadelphia) 5-5–15
Pretinha (San Jose) 5-5–15
14. Conny Pohlers (Atlanta) 4-5–13
15. Katia (San Jose) 5-2–12
Christine Latham (San Diego) 5-2–12
Christie Welsh (New York) 6-0–12
18. Venus James (Carolina) 5-1–11
Cindy Parlow (Atlanta) 3-5–11
Sissi (San Jose) 3-5–11
Stacey Tullock (Philadelphia) 3-5–11
22. Shannon Boxx (New York) 1-8–10
23. Emily Janss (New York) 4-1–9
Jacqui Little (Washington) 2-5–9
Homare Sawa (Atlanta) 3-3–9
Lindsay Stoecker (Washington) 4-1–9
27. Abby Crumpton (Atlanta) 3-2–8
Krista Davey (New York) 3-2–8
Julie Foudy (San Jose) 3-2–8
Kristine Lilly (Boston) 2-4–8
Anita Rapp (New York) 2-4–8
Margaret Tietjen (New York) 1-6–8
Tisha Venturini-Hoch (San Jose) 3-2–8
34. Kelly Golebiowski (Washington) 2-3–7
Cheryl Salisbury (New York) 3-1–7
Keri Sanchez (San Jose) 1-5–7
Aly Wagner (San Diego) 2-3–7
38. Justi Baumgardt (New York) 1-4–6
Emily Burt (Philadelphia) 2-2–6
Brandi Chastain (San Jose) 1-4–6
Nel Fettig (Carolina) 2-2–6
Angela Hucles (Boston) 1-4–6
Steffi Jones (Washington) 1-4–6
Unni Lehn (Carolina) 0-6–6
Joanne Peters (New York) 2-2–6
Zhang Ouying (San Diego) 1-4–6
47. Katie Barnes (San Jose) 2-1–5
Erin Baxter (Carolina) 2-1–5
Kylie Bivens (Atlanta) 1-3–5
Jen Grubb (Washington) 2-1–5
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
Danielle Slaton (Carolina) 2-1–5
Allie Sullivan (San Diego) 1-3–5
57. Danielle Borgman (Carolina) 2-0–4
Michelle French (San Jose) 0-4–4
Monica Gonzalez (Boston) 1-2–4
Devvyn Hawkins (Boston) 1-2–4
Jena Kluegel (Boston) 0-4–4
Brooke O'Hanley (Carolina) 0-4–4
Tammy Pearman (New York) 1-2–4
Nikki Serlenga (Atlanta) 1-2–4
Jen Tietjen-Prozzo (Philadelphia) 1-2–4
Goals
1. Dagny Mellgren (Boston) 14
Marinette Pichon (Philadelphia) 14
3. Abby Wambach (Washington) 13
4. Mia Hamm (Washington) 11
5. Julie Fleeting (San Diego) 10
Birgit Prinz (Carolina) 10
7. Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 9
Maren Meinert (Boston) 9
9. Maribel Dominguez (Atlanta) 7
Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 7
Assists
1. Mia Hamm (Washington) 11
2. Maren Meinert (Boston) 10
3. Shannon Boxx (New York) 7
Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 7
5. Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 6
Unni Lehn (Carolina) 6
Tiffeny Milbrett (New York) 6
Margaret Tietjen (New York) 6
Abby Wambach (Washington) 6
10. Melanie Hoffman (Philadelphia) 5
Jacqui Little (Washington) 5
Cindy Parlow (Atlanta) 5
Conny Pohlers (Atlanta) 5
Pretinha (San Jose) 5
Keri Sanchez (San Jose) 5
Sissi (San Jose) 5
Stacey Tullock (Philadelphia) 5