Philadelphia and Carolina, the dominant clubs in the WUSA since season's start, nailed down their berths in the Aug. 17 semifinals Saturday when the Courage pulled away in the second half for a 4-1 victory over visiting San Jose.

The Charge celebrated with a 3-1 victory over San Diego as Marinette Pichon returned to the lineup with a goal.

A third playoff berth will be secured Sunday if there is a winner in the Washington-Atlanta game at RFK Stadium. The fifth-place CyberRays' loss left it near elimination, although its fate cannot be finalized until Wednesday.

In Saturday's WUSA action:

Carolina 4 San Jose 1: Birgit Prinz scored two goals, including the finale of a three-goals-in-14-minutes sequence that turned a 1-1 match into a romp before 6,629 at SAS Stadium.

The Courage (11-5-3, 36 points) snapped a three-game losing streak as Prinz totaled five points and Danielle Fotopoulos contributed a goal and two assists.

San Jose forward Katia's five-game goalscoring streak, which tied Prinz's WUSA record, was halted, but the Brazilian assisted on Tisha Venturini-Hoch's sixth goal of the season.

Prinz netted her 10th in the 16th minute, half-volleying a Fotopoulos head-flick from a 40-yard Nel Fettig free kick. Venturini-Hoch tied the score for San Jose (8-7-4, 28 points) 11 minutes later, redirecting Katia's driven cross from the middle of the penalty area,

Slaton broke the tie in the 59th minute, chipping San Jose goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene from a Tiffany Roberts cross. Fotopoulos made it 3-1 from a Prinz feed at the top of the box in the 70th minute, her 10th goal of the season, and Prinz scored her 11th two minutes later.

Philadelphia 3 San Diego 1: Pichon returned from a two-game injury absence to score her 14th goal of the season and Zhao Lihong tied a WUSA record with three assists as the Charge (11-3-5, 38 points) won for the first time in four games to close in on a home assignment for the semifinals.

All three Philly goals came from second-half corner kicks in a match played before 6,889 at Villanova Stadium.

A Washington victory over Atlanta on Sunday, or a tie, will secure the Charge one of the top two spots. Its magic number to clinch the regular-season title is four points.

Rookie Stacey Tullock's first WUSA goal, a header from Zhao's corner kick, gave Philadelphia a 56th-minute advantage, but Jen Mascaro tied it two minutes later for San Diego (4-11-4, 16 points) from an Amy Sauer cross.

Erica Iverson headed home a cross from Jenny Benson in the 65th minute, and Pichon volleyed in a Zhao corner kick six minutes later.

Defender Heather Mitts missed her fourth successive match with a hip pointer sustained in the U.S. women's national team's scrimmage against Norway on July 19. Lorrie Fair moved from midfield to Mitts' spot at right back, with Liu Ailing moving into midfield.

SATURDAY'S SUMMARIES

Aug. 3 at Cary, N.C.

Carolina 4 San Jose 1. Goals: Prinz (Fettig, Fotopoulos) 16, Slaton (T. Roberts) 59, Fotopoulos (Prinz) 70, Prinz (Fotopoulos, Riise) 72; Venturini-Hoch (Pretinha, Katia) 27.

Carolina — Luckenbill; Burt, Fettig, O'Hanley (Overbeck, 86), Slaton (James, 66); T. Roberts, Baxter (Wilson, 46), Riise (Anderson, 90), Lehn; Prinz, Fotopoulos.

San Jose — Beene; Chastain, Bryan, Lindsey (Borgman, 74), French; Nanez (Wagner, 56), Pretinha, Venturini-Hoch, Sissi; Bell (Eagleson, 34), Katia.

Yellow cards — Carolina: T. Roberts 62; San Jose: Nanez 41, Bryan 45, Pretinha 58.

Referee — Misail Tsapos. A — 6,629.

Aug. 3 at Villanova, Pa.

Philadelphia 3 San Diego 1. Goals: Tullock (Zhao) 56, Iverson (Zhao, Benson) 65, Pichon (Zhao) 71; Mascaro (Sauer, Fan) 58.

Philadelphia — Moore; L. Fair, Iverson, J. Tietjen, Benson; Tullock, McDowell, Liu (Monroe, 80), Connors (Koleski, 83), Zhao; Pichon.

San Diego — Smolak; Kraus, Fawcett, Fan, Sauer (Lindsey, 62); Tanaka, Mascaro (Boxx, 62), Foudy; MacMillan, Fleeting, Kester.

Yellow cards — None.

Referee — Terry Vaughn. A — 6,889.

WEDNESDAY'S SUMMARIES

July 31 at Cary, N.C.

Carolina 2 Washington 5. Goals: Fotopoulos (Burt, Prinz) 26, Prinz (James) 45; Wambach (Pu) 23, Bai (Wambach, Noftsinger) 53, Hamm (Wambach) 56, Bai (Hamm) 60, Hamm (Wambach) 80.

Carolina — Luckenbill; Burt, Baxter, Fettig, Slaton (Wilson, 75); O'Hanley, Riise (Barnes, 84), Lehn (Yankowski, 81); Fotopoulos, Prinz, James (Anderson, 62).

Washington — Mullinix; S. Little, Moore, Grubb, Barr; Jones, Cook (Noftsinger, 16), Gerardo (Hamm, 46), Pu (Zimny, 73); Bai (J. Little, 61), Wambach.

Yellow cards — Carolina: Baxter 71; Washington: Gerardo 42.

Referee — Todd Perry. A — 7,214.

July 31 at San Jose

San Jose 2 Philadelphia 0. Goals: Venturini-Hoch (Katia) 53, Katia (Eagleson) 84.

San Jose — Beene; Borgman (French, 63), Bryan, Lindsey, Chastain; Nanez; Pretinha (Dorn, 85), Venturini-Hoch, Sissi; Katia (Wagner, 89), Bell (Eagleson, 59).

Philadelphia — Zabala; Alfiler, Tietjen, Hall, Benson; Tullock; Connors (McDowell, 79, Fair, Demko (Liu, 46), Clemens; Koleski (Martin, 46).

Yellow cards — San Jose: Pretinha 10; Philadelphia: Tietjen 61.

Referee — Sandra Hunt. A — 6,653.

July 31 at San Diego

San Diego 1 Atlanta 4. Goals: Fleeting (Mascaro, Foudy) 18; Sun 25, Sawa (Krzykowski) 34, Hooper (Sawa, Parlow) 46, Sawa 73.

San Diego — Smolak; Kraus, Fawcett, Tanaka (Pickup, 73), Sauer; Mascaro, Foudy, Lindsey (Boxx, 77); MacMillan, Fleeting, Kester.

Atlanta — Scurry; N. Augustyniak, Krzykowski, Nonen, J. Augustyniak; Miller, Serlenga; Sawa (Wang, 78), Sun (Cagle, 70); Hooper (Cromwell, 88), Parlow (Burt, 67).

Yellow cards — San Diego: Tanaka 79.

Referee — Mark Arblaster. A — 6,392.

STANDINGS
W-L-T Pts GF-GA

1. Philadelphia 11-3-5 38 35-19
2. Carolina 11-5-3 36 37-28
3. Washington 9-5-5 32 33-25
4. Atlanta 10-7-1 31 30-25
5. San Jose 8-7-4 28 33-28
6. Boston 4-8-7 19 31-34
7. San Diego 4-11-4 16 26-41
8. New York 3-14-1 10 27-52

THIS WEEKEND'S SCHEDULE
Sunday, Aug. 4
New York at Boston, 4 p.m.
Atlanta at Washington, 4 p.m.

All times Eastern

LEADING SCORERS
(G-A–Pts)
1. Katia (San Jose) 15-4–34
2. Marinette Pichon (Philadelphia) 14-1–29
Birgit Prinz (Carolina) 11-7–29
4. Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 10-8–28
Abby Wambach (Washington) 10-8–28
6. Tiffeny Milbrett (New York) 10-7–27
7. Maren Meinert (Boston) 7-12–26
8. Kristine Lilly (Boston) 7-11–25
9. Dagny Mellgren (Boston) 10-2–22
Hege Riise (Carolina) 5-12–22
11. Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 10-1–21
12. Homare Sawa (Atlanta) 7-6–20
13. Shannon MacMillan (San Diego) 5-6–16
14. Emily Janss (New York) 7-1–15
Mia Hamm (Washington) 6-3–15
16. Tisha Venturini-Hoch (San Jose) 6-1–13
17. Zhang Ouying (San Diego) 5-2–12
Julie Foudy (San Diego) 4-4–12
Zhao Lihong (Philadelphia) 2-8–12
20. Bai Jie (Washington) 4-3–11 Cindy Parlow (Atlanta) 4-3–11
Pretinha (San Jose) 4-3–11
Kelly Smith (Philadelphia) 4-3–11
Sissi (San Jose) 1-9–11
25. Nikki Serlenga (Atlanta) 2-6–10