The Atlanta Beat captured the final WUSA semifinal berth Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 victory over first-place Philadelphia before 7,590 at Herndon Stadium.

Nikki Serlenga and Kelly Cagle scored goals for the Beat (11-9-1, 34 points), which needed only a tie to beat defending champion San Jose in the battle for the fourth playoff spot.

The Charge (11-4-6, 39 points) would fall to second in the final regular-season standings should Carolina win or tie in San Diego on Sunday. That match will determine the Aug. 17 semifinal matchups, with Atlanta and third-place Washington on the road.

Serlenga gave Atlanta a fourth-minute lead, blasting home from 30 yards a limply headed clearance by Jen Tietjen. The shot found the upper-left corner off goalkeeper Melissa Moore's fingertips.

Cagle's first goal of the season made it 2-0 in the 63rd minute. Cindy Parlow crossed from the right wing, Charmaine Hooper — near the top of the 6, her back to the net — slightly changed the ball's direction, and Cagle first-timed it from 8 yards.

The Charge has won just once in six games.

In Saturday's other games:

Boston 1 San Jose 0: Kristine Lilly knocked the ball home during a goalmouth scramble following a corner kick as the Breakers (6-8-7, 25 points) completed an unbeaten home campaign before 6,013 at Nickerson Field.

The Breakers finished 5-0-5 at Nickerson and CMGI Field.

San Jose (8-8-5, 29 points) learned a little more than an hour before game time that it had been eliminated from the WUSA playoff chase.

CyberRays forward Katia maintained her hold on the league scoring lead with 35 points, four more than Carolina's Birgit Prinz and Danielle Fotopoulos. The Courage concludes its season today.

Washington 4 New York 2: Mia Hamm came off the bench to score one goal and assist on another as the Freedom extended its unbeaten streak to nine games before 7,635 at Mitchel Athletic Complex.

Bai Jie also had a goal and an assist for Washington (11-5-5, 38 points), and Emmy Barr and Jacqui Little also scored for the Freedom.

Emily Janss and Jaclyn Raveia tallied for the Power (3-17-1, 10 points).

SATURDAY'S SUMMARIES

Aug. 10 at Atlanta

Atlanta 2 Philadelphia 0. Goals: Serlenga 4, Cagle (Hooper, Parlow) 63.

Atlanta — Scurry; J. Augustyniak, Krzykowski, Nonen, N. Augustyniak; Serlenga, Bivens, Wang (Cagle, 13), Parlow, Sawa; Hooper.

Philadelphia — Moore; Mitts, Tietjen, Iverson, Benson; Tullock, Fair, McDowell (Liu, 60), Connors (Clemens, 73), Zhao; Pichon.

Yellow cards — Atlanta: Hooper 66, Serlenga 73, J. Augustyniak 80; Philadelphia: Connors 50, Iverson 92+.

Referee — Erich Simmons. A — 7,590.

Aug. 10 at Boston

Boston 1 San Jose 0. Goal: Lilly (Aldama, Mellgren) 51.

Boston — LeBlanc; Kluegel, Sobrero (Gonzalez, 56), McCann, Aldama; Hucles, Dacey (Borisjuk, 66), Lilly, Wiegmann; Meinert, Mellgren (Kemp, 74).

San Jose — Beene; Alagich, Bryan, Lindsey, French; Dorn, Pretinha, Venturini-Hoch (Wagner, 71), Sissi; Chastain (Bell, 31; Borgman, 66), Katia.

Yellow cards — San Jose: Lindsey 34.

Referee — Arnold Baldeaux. A — 6,013.

Aug. 10 at Uniondale, N.Y.

New York 2 Washington 4. Goals: Janss (Fair, Davey) 60, Raveia (Pearce) 89; Bai (Pu) 17, Barr (Bai, Hamm) 56, Hamm 67, J. Little 79.

New York — Webber; Pearce, Raveia, Whelchel (Mustonen, 76), Fair; Davey, Baumgardt-Yamada (Stauffer, 84), Janss, Lalor (Rapp, 58); Pearman, Milbrett.

Washington — Mullinix (Fahey, 82); S. Little (Zimny, 54), Moore, Grubb, Barr; Jones, Noftsinger (Hamm, 46), Gerardo (Makinen, 64), Pu; Bai (J. Little, 58), Wambach.

Yellow cards — New York: Fair 67.

Referee — Kari Seitz. A — 7,635.

WEDNESDAY'S SUMMARIES

Aug. 7 at Atlanta

Atlanta 0 San Diego 1. Goal: Foudy (MacMillan, Pickup) 46.

Atlanta — Scurry; J. Augustyniak, Krzykowski (Bivens, 32), Nonen, N. Augustyniak; Miller, Serlenga (Wang, 83); Sun (Cagle, 62), Sawa; Hooper, Parlow (Burt, 56).

San Diego — Smolak; Tanaka, Fawcett, Fan, Pickup; Mascaro (Lindsey, 75), Boxx (Kraus, 64), Foudy; MacMillan, Fleeting, Kester.

Yellow cards — Atlanta: Hooper 36; San Diego: Pickup 33'; Fleeting 91+.

Referee — Todd Perry. A — 5,814.

Aug. 7 at Villanova, Pa.

Philadelphia 1 San Jose 1. Goals: Tullock (Koleski, Fair) 73; Chastain (Katia) 34.

Philadelphia — Moore; Mitts (Fair, 46), Iverson, Hall, Alfiler; Demko (Tullock, 46), Monroe, Zhao (Liu, 46), Martin (Pichon, 58), Clemens; Koleski.

San Jose — Beene; Alagich, Bryan, Lindsey, French; Dorn, Venturini-Hoch, Wagner (Sissi, 79; Nanez, 89); Chastain, Bell (Pretinha, 62), Katia.

Yellow cards — Philadelphia: Koleski 82, Fair 87.

Referee — Rachel Woo. A — 6,402.

Aug. 7 at Uniondale, N.Y.

New York 1 Carolina 2. Goals: Pearman (Milbrett) 89; Prinz (Fotopoulos, Riise) 66, Fotopoulos (Prinz) 81.

New York — Gao; Pearce, Raveia, Whelchel (Rapp, 83), Fair; Baumgardt-Yamada, Davey, Janss (Mustonen, 75), Lalor; Milbrett, Pearman.

Carolina — Luckenbill; Burt, Fettig, Wilson, Slaton (James, 46; Yankowski, 87); O'Hanley, Roberts, Riise, Lehn (Anderson, 39); Prinz, Fotopoulos.

Yellow cards — Carolina: Wilson 21.

Referee — Ricardo Salazar. A – 8,314.

STANDINGS
W-L-T Pts GF-GA

1. Philadelphia 11-4-6 39 36-22
2. Carolina 12-5-3 39 39-29
3. Washington 11-5-5 38 40-29
4. Atlanta 11-9-1 34 34-29
5. San Jose 8-8-5 29 34-30
6. Boston 6-8-7 25 36-35
7. San Diego 5-11-4 19 27-41
8. New York 3-17-1 10 31-62

REMAINING SCHEDULE
Sunday, Aug. 11
Carolina at San Diego, 8 p.m.
End regular season

Saturday, Aug. 17
Semifinals
Atlanta or Washington at Philadelphia, 1:30 p.m.
Atlanta or Washington at Carolina, 4 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 24
Founders Cup II
Semifinal winners at Atlanta, 4 p.m.

All times Eastern

LEADING SCORERS
(G-A–Pts)
1. Katia (San Jose) 15-5–35
2. Birgit Prinz (Carolina) 12-7–31
Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 11-9–31
4. Marinette Pichon (Philadelphia) 14-1–29
Abby Wambach (Washington) 10-9–29
Kristine Lilly (Boston) 8-13–29
Maren Meinert (Boston) 7-15–29
8. Tiffeny Milbrett (New York) 10-8–28
9. Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 11-3–25
Dagny Mellgren (Boston) 11-3–25
11. Hege Riise (Carolina) 5-13–23
12. Mia Hamm (Washington) 8-6–22
13. Homare Sawa (Atlanta) 7-6–20
14. Bai Jie (Washington) 6-5–17
Shannon MacMillan (San Diego) 5-7–17
16. Emily Janss (New York) 8-1–16
17. Julie Foudy (San Diego) 5-4–14
Cindy Parlow (Atlanta) 5-4–14
19. Tisha Venturini-Hoch (San Jose) 6-1–13
20. Zhang Ouying (San Diego) 5-2–12
Nikki Serlenga (Atlanta) 3-6–12
Bettina Wiegmann (Boston) 2-8–12
Zhao Lihong (Philadelphia) 2-8–12
24. Brandi Chastain (San Jose) 4-3–11
Pretinha (San Jose) 4-3–11
Kelly Smith (Philadelphia) 4-3–11
Sissi (San Jose) 1-9–11
28. Angela Hucles (Boston) 3-4–10
Jacqui Little (Washington) 3-4–10
Pu Wei (Washington) 1-8–10
31. Tammy Pearman (New York) 4-1–9
Lori Lindsey (San Diego) 2-5–9
33. Danielle Slaton (Carolina) 4-0–8
Sun Wen (Atlanta) 4-0–8
35. Julie Fleeting (San Diego) 3-1–7
Monica Gerardo (Washington) 3-1–7
Emmy Barr (Washington) 2-3–7
Linda Ormen (New York) 2-3–7
Michelle French (San Jose) 1-5–7
40. Mandy Clemens (Philadelphia) 2-2–6
Venus James (Carolina) 2-2–6
Unni Lehn (Carolina) 2-2–6
Liu Ailing (Philadelphia) 2-2–6
Anne Makinen (Washington) 2-2–6
Kylie Bivens (Atlanta) 1-4–6
Kim Clark (San Jose) 1-4–6
Jen Mascaro (San Diego) 1-4–6
Tiffany Roberts (Carolina) 1-4–6
Sarah Yohe (Boston) 1-4–6
50. Kerry Connors (Philadelphia) 2-1–5
Anita Rapp (New York) 2-1–5
Jennifer Tietjen (Philadelphia) 1-3–5
Lorrie Fair (Philadelphia) 0-5–5