The first-place Philadelphia Charge failed to win for the third time in four games but maintained its advantage in the WUSA standings with 1-1 tie Saturday against visiting Washington, a result earned on Marinette Pichon's late goal. Second-place Carolina kept pace with the Charge, settling for a 2-2 tie at Boston after twice surrendering leads to Dagny Mellgren goals. A look at Saturday's WUSA action: Philadelphia 1 Washington 1: Pichon knocked home a Jen Tietjen free kick in the 87th minute as the Charge (5-1-2, 17 points) ended a 183-minute drought to pick up a point before 9,650 at Villanova Stadium. The Frenchwoman's goal, her fourth of the season, prevented Philadelphia from being shutout for the third time in four matches. German national team star Steffi Jones made her WUSA debut for the Freedom (2-4-3, 9 points), playing 90 minutes in midfield, and Washington owned huge swaths of the action. The Charge, playing its first game since losing English standout Kelly Smith to a torn anterior cruciate ligament, struggled at times to create, but Pichon caused the Freedom defense havoc all afternoon. She took eight shots, six of them on goal and the other two finding the woodwork. Washington took the lead in the 40th minute after Charge goalkeeper Melissa Moore tripped up Jacqui Little in the box. Jen Grubb converted the penalty kick. Pichon's equalizer came off a 40-yard Tietjen free kick that eluded Jones and Casey Zimny. Pichon deposited it in the right side of the goal off one bounce. Boston 2 Carolina 2: Mellgren headed in crosses from Maren Meinert in the 14th and 49th minutes, earning the Breakers (2-3-4, 10 points) a point before 9,107 at Nickerson Field. Mellgren's tallies gave her five goals this season, tops in the WUSA with Danielle Fotopoulos' whose fifth strike of the campaign gave Carolina (4-1-3, 15 points) a sixth-minute lead. Hege Riise sent Carolina ahead, 2-1, in the 32nd minute, finishing a feed from Birgit Prinz. The German forward, who debuted last weekend, notched her first WUSA assist. Carolina defender Erin Baxter departed the game in the 71st minute — five minutes after coming on as a substitute — with an injury to her right ankle. Tests were scheduled to determine the severity of the injury. SATURDAY'S SUMMARIES June 8 at Villanova, Pa. Philadelphia 1 Washington 1. Goals: Pichon (Tietjen) 87; Grubb pen. 40. Philadelphia — Moore; Mitts, Iverson, Tietjen, Benson (Clemens, 77); Tullock, Martin (Connors, 46), Fair, Liu (McDowell, 77), Zhao; Pichon. Washington — Mullinix; S. Little, Zimny, Grubb, Barr; Stoecker (Gerardo), Jones; Cook (Makinen, 58), Pu; J. Little (Milburn, 82), Wambach. Yellow cards — Philadelphia: Moore 39. Referee — Erich Simmons. A — 9,650. June 8 at Boston Boston 2 Carolina 2. Goals: Mellgren (Meinert, Lilly) 14, Mellgren (Meinert, Wiegmann) 49; Fotopoulos (Riise, Burt) 6, Riise (Prinz, Burt) 32. Boston — LeBlanc; Kluegel, McCann, Sobrero, Kamholz (Borisjuk, 83); Hucles (Raygor, 46), Lilly, Dacey, Wiegmann; Meinert, Mellgren. Carolina — Luckenbill; Burt, Overbeck (Yankowski, 46; Barnes, 90), O'Hanley (Baxter, 66; James, 71), Slaton; T. Roberts, Fettig, Riise; Lehn, Fotopoulos, Prinz. Yellow cards — Boston: McCann 76, Dacey 81. Referee — Faith Rossi. A — 9,107. STANDINGS 1. Philadelphia 5-1-2, 17 points; 2. Carolina 4-1-3, 15; 3. Atlanta 4-3-1, 13; 4. San Jose 3-3-2, 11; 5. Boston 2-3-4, 10; 6. Washington 2-4-3, 9; 7. San Diego 2-4-2, 8; 8. New York 2-5-1, 7. Sunday, June 9
Atlanta at New York, 6 p.m.
San Diego at San Jose, 6 p.m. All times EDT.