Boston captured the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for the WUSA playoffs on Sunday, beating San Jose, 1-0, to overcome Atlanta in the battle at the top of the standings.
Kristine Lilly's 75th-minute penalty kick was the difference for the Breakers (10-4-7, 37 points), who will be home against Washington on Saturday in the WUSA semifinals.
The Beat (9-4-8, 35 points) dropped to second place with a 1-1 tie against visiting New York and will play host to San Diego in the other semifinal next Sunday.
Washington's Mia Hamm won the scoring title, with 33 points, and also led the league in assists, with 11. Boston's Dagny Mellgren and Philadelphia's Marinette Pichon tied for top goalscorer, each with 14. Statistics could change as Elias Sports Bureau, the league's official statistician, pores over game tape.
Sunday's highlights:
Boston 1 San Jose 0: Lilly's penalty kick, after Thori Bryan dragged down Mellgren, was all Boston needed to clinch the WUSA regular-season title before 6,001 at Spartan Stadium.
The game was a finale for San Jose's Tisha Venturini-Hoch, Kelly Lindsey and Ann Cook, who are retiring. CyberRays coach Ian Sawyers made certain all three saw action, taking Venturini-Hoch — a former U.S. national team player — off to a huge reception in the 86th minute.
San Jose (7-10-4, 25 points) finished sixth.
Mellgren, the WUSA's all-time goalscoring leader with 36, scored what would have been her 15th of the season for the Breakers in the 61st minute, but it was nullified by an offside call.
Atlanta 1 New York 1: The Beat settled for second before 8,545 at Herndon Stadium after failing to win for the fifth successive game.
Charmaine Hooper's 11th goal of the season, finished after Homare Sawa headed a clearance back into the Power box, gave the Beat a 13th-minute advantage, but Margaret Tietjen pulled the Power (7-9-5, 26 points) even with a 35-yard free kick in the 40th minute.
Atlanta could have gone ahead during first-half stoppage time after New York defender Jaclyn Raveia fouled Hooper in the box, but Power goalkeeper Saskia Webber dived to her left to push the ball from danger.
New York, which went 3-17-1 last season, climbed over San Jose into fifth place.
SUNDAY'S SUMMARIES
Aug. 10 at San Jose
San Jose 0 Boston 1. Goals: Lilly pen. 75.
San Jose — Greathouse; Alagich, Bryan, Cromwell, Chastain; Antongiovanni (Sanchez, 46), Lindsey (French, 84), Venturini-Hoch (Patrick, 86), Sissi; Bell (Cook, 70), Barnes.
Boston — LeBlanc; Kluegel (Monroe, 46), Sobrero, McCann, Aldama (McDowell, 46); Gonzalez; O'Grady (Hawkins, 46), Lilly, Popper; Meinert, Mellgren (Splaine, 81).
Yellow cards — Boston: Lilly 85.
Referee — Todd Perry.
A — 6,001.
Aug. 10 at Atlanta
Atlanta 1 New York 1. Goals: Hooper (Sawa) 13; Tietjen 40,
Atlanta — Scurry; Bivens, N. Augustyniak, Nonen, Gaston (Crumpton, 68); Serlenga (Withers, 72), Warren; Parlow, Sawa; Dominguez (Pohlers, 46), Hooper.
New York — Webber; Pearce, Raveia, Salisbury, Tietjen; Davey (Janss, 83), Boxx (Orlandos, 75), Whelchel (Baumgardt, 81), Peters; Beem (Rapp, 68), Milbrett.
Yellow cards — Atlanta: Gaston 41, Hooper 56, Scurry 90; New York: Boxx 72, Webber 86, Janss 86.
Referee — Misail Tsapos.
A — 8,545.
WUSA FINAL STANDINGS
Pl W-L-T Pts (GF-GA)
1. xy-Boston 21 10-4-7 37 (33-29)
2. xy-Atlanta 21 9-4-8 35 (34-19)
3. xz-San Diego 21 8-6-7 31 (27-26)
4. x-Washington 21 9-8-4 31 (40-31)
5. New York 21 7-9-5 26 (33-43)
6. w-San Jose 21 7-10-4 25 (23-30)
7. Carolina 21 7-10-4 25 (30-32)
8. Philadelphia 21 5-11-5 20 (30-40)
x — clinched semifinal berth
y — clinched home field for semifinals
z — won season series with Washington to finish third w — won season series with Carolina to finish sixth
THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Sunday, Aug. 10
San Jose 0 Boston 1
Atlanta 1 New York 1
End regular season
Wednesday, Aug. 6
Boston 1 Carolina 0
Philadelphia 2 Washington 0
San Jose 1 Atlanta 1
Saturday, Aug. 9
San Diego 2 Washington 1
Carolina 1 Philadelphia 1
WUSA PLAYOFFS
Semifinals
Saturday, Aug. 16
Washington at Boston, 4 p.m. (PAX TV)
Sunday, Aug. 17
San Diego at Atlanta, 6 p.m. (ESPN2)
Founders Cup III
Sunday, Aug. 24
At San Diego, 4 p.m. (ESPN2)
All times Eastern
LEADING SCORERS
G-A–Pts
1. Mia Hamm (Washington) 11-11–33
2. Abby Wambach (Washington) 13-6–32
3. Marinette Pichon (Philadelphia) 14-3–31
4. Dagny Mellgren (Boston) 14-2–30
5. Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 11-7–29
6. Maren Meinert (Boston) 9-10–28
7. Julie Fleeting (San Diego) 11-4–26
8. Birgit Prinz (Carolina) 11-3–25
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
Christine Latham (San Diego) 6-3–15
Pretinha (San Jose) 5-5–15
15. Conny Pohlers (Atlanta) 4-5–13
16. Katia (San Jose) 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
Kristine Lilly (Boston) 3-4–10
Jacqui Little (Washington) 2-6–10
Homare Sawa (Atlanta) 3-4–10
Margaret Tietjen (New York) 2-6–10
27. Emily Janss (New York) 4-1–9
Lindsay Stoecker (Washington) 4-1–9
29. Abby Crumpton (Atlanta) 3-2–8
Krista Davey (New York) 3-2–8
Julie Foudy (San Jose) 3-2–8
Kelly Golebiowski (Washington) 2-4–8
Steffi Jones (Washington) 2-4–8
Anita Rapp (New York) 2-4–8
Tisha Venturini-Hoch (San Jose) 3-2–8
Aly Wagner (San Diego) 2-4–8
37. Cheryl Salisbury (New York) 3-1–7
Keri Sanchez (San Jose) 1-5–7
39. 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
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
Staci Burt (Carolina) 0-4–4
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
Sandra Minnert (Washington) 1-2–4
Brooke O'Hanley (Carolina) 0-4–4
Tammy Pearman (New York) 1-2–4
Pavlina Scasna (Philadelphia) 1-2–4
Jen Tietjen-Prozzo (Philadelphia) 1-2–4
68. Heather Aldama (Boston) 1-1–3
Katie Antongiovanni (San Jose) 1-1–3
Deliah Arrington (Philadelphia) 1-1–3
Daniela (San Diego) 0-3–3
Lorrie Fair (Philadelphia) 0-3–3
Ragnhild Gulbrandsen (Boston) 1-1–3
Nikki Serlenga (Atlanta) 0-3–3
Kelly Smith (Philadelphia) 0-3–3
Kate Sobrero (Boston) 0-3–3
Casey Zimny (Washington) 1-1–3
Goals
1. Dagny Mellgren (Boston) 14
Marinette Pichon (Philadelphia) 14
3. Abby Wambach (Washington) 13
4. Julie Fleeting (San Diego) 11
Mia Hamm (Washington) 11
Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 11
Birgit Prinz (Carolina) 11
8. 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
Jacqui Little (Washington) 6
Tiffeny Milbrett (New York) 6
Margaret Tietjen (New York) 6
Abby Wambach (Washington) 6