A spectacular 88th-minute volley by Brandi Chastain, making her first appearance in the WUSA as a forward, completed the San Jose CyberRays’ rally for a 2-1 victory over visiting Boston as they began defense of their championship. WUSA President Lynn Morgan presented championship rings to the CyberRays before the nationally televised match, which drew 6,051 to Spartan Stadium on a gorgeous afternoon. The CyberRays were the only home winner in four opening-day games, with Philadelphia winning a showdown in Atlanta, Carolina edging San Diego on a late Joy Fawcett own goal, and New York routing Washington as 2001 MVP Tiffeny Milbrett scored twice. Average attendance for the day was 7,373. In San Jose, Chastain slipped past Breakers rookie defender Monica Gonzalez and, from about eight yards, rocketed home Sissi’s free kick from near midfield to lift the CyberRays. The strike, the ‘Rays’ second in 14 minutes, made up for Chastain’s miss on a penalty kick in the 70th minute. Boston played without four injured starters — midfielder Kristine Lilly, defender Kate Sobrero, forward Ragnhild Gulbrandsen and goalkeeper Tracy Ducar — but withstood the CyberRays’ forays most of the game, getting a fine performance from central defender Chrisy McCann. San Jose had the better of play and more chances, and the Breakers broke down defensively in the final 20 minutes. Maren Meinert fired Boston ahead five minutes into the second half, beating a defender to a rebound in front of the net. Dagny Mellgren struck the left crossbar from 20 yards, and San Jose goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene parried Sarah Yohe’s rebound, but Meinert finished. Chastain, who converted the most famous penalty kick in women’s soccer history, fired left of the target after Gonzalez, starting in Sobrero’s place, was whistled for handling a quick shot by Pretinha. Pretinha fired the ‘Rays even four minutes later, first-timing a feed from Tisha Venturini-Hoch from 20 yards. The shot deflected off rookie defender Jena Kluegel and past goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc. In other WUSA openers on Saturday: Philadelphia 2 Atlanta 0: Kelly Smith’s free kick from 20 yards found the near-post upper 90 and Zhao Lihong tallied in her WUSA debut as the visiting Charge prevailed before 10,070 at Herndon Stadium. Philadelphia’s first victory in five meetings with the Beat was product of outstanding defense, with wing backs Jenny Benson and Heather Mitts giving strong performances to limit Atlanta to three shots on goal. Smith’s free kick, from just beyond the right corner of the box, gave the Charge a lead after an hour. French newcomer Marinette Pichon, a halftime substitute for Liu Ailing, forced a loose ball in the Atlanta box 12 minutes later, and Zhao placed it over Beat goalkeeper Briana Scurry and into the far-post netting. Carolina 2 San Diego 1: Last year’s last-place club remained unbeaten against the Spirit, pulling out a victory over its host when Joy Fawcett deflected a Danielle Slaton cross into her net in the 87th minute. San Diego applied pressure throughout, outfiring the Courage, 16-8, but goalkeeper Kristin Luckenbill made six saves and Shannon MacMillan and Mercy Akide hit the woodwork before 5,166 at Torero Stadium. Danielle Fotopoulos fired the Courage ahead in the 36th minute on a sequence similar to the gamewinner; her shot bounced into the net off defender Margaret Tietjen’s thigh. Zhang Ouying, making her WUSA debut, got the equalizer in the 59th minute. The Chinese forward collected Julie Foudy’s through ball to the right wing, cut inside the penalty area and fired low to the far post. The ball trickled off Luckenbill’s hand and into the net. New York 4 Washington 1: Tiffeny Milbrett, last year’s WUSA scoring champion and MVP, started off 2002 with a pair of goals as the visiting Power overpowered the Freedom before 8,206 at RFK Stadium. Norwegian midfielders Linda Ormen and Anita Rapp, making their WUSA debuts, scored New York’s other goals, and Ormen assisted on both of Milbrett’s tallies. The Freedom played without a handful of starters, including forward Mia Hamm. Rookie Casey Zimny, expected to start in central defense, was sidelined after undergoing emergency surgery Thursday night for a ruptured ovarian cyst. Washington struck first, in the ninth minute, with Emmy Barr sending in a cross from the left to Abby Wambach, who nodded it down for Monica Gerardo. The Mexican international beat one defender, then fired into the upper corner. Jacqui Little narrowly missed extending the advantage, firing off the crossbar in the 28th minute. Washington outshot the Power, 19-13, and both teams put nine shots on target. Milbrett scored on breakaways five minutes later and again in the 54th minute to send New York ahead. Ormen finished a cross from Minna Mustonen in the 64th, and Rapp struck on a sharply angled shot in the 84th. GAME SUMMARIES San Jose 2 Boston 1. Goals: Pretinha (Venturini-Hoch, Chastain) 74, Chastain (Sissi) 88; Meinert 50. San Jose — Beene; Borgman, Bryan, Lindsey, French; Dorn, Venturini-Hoch, Sissi; Chastain, Katia (Clark 86), Pretinha (Nanez 89). Boston — LeBlanc; Kluegel, McCann, Gonzalez, Aldama; Hucles, Raygor, Wiegmann, Yohe (Dacey 52); Meinert, Mellgren (Borisjuk 61). Yellow cards — San Jose, Pretinha 59; Boston, Gonzalez 69. Referee — Sandra Hunt. Att. — 6,051. Atlanta 0 Philadelphia 2. Goals: Smith 60, Zhao 72. Atlanta — Scurry; J. Augustyniak, Nonen, Bivens, Wang; Miller (Sawa 46), Serlenga, Sun; Hooper (Burt 87), Parlow, Cagle (Krzykowski 68). Philadelphia — Moore; Mitts, Tietjen, Iverson, Benson; Fair, Monroe, Liu (Pichon 46), Zhao; Clemens, Smith. Yellow cards — Philadelphia, Smith 44, Benson 58. Referee — Ricardo Salazar. Att. — 10,070. San Diego 1 Carolina 2. Goals: Zhang (Foudy) 59; Fotopoulos 36, own goal (Fawcett) 87. San Diego — Pagliarulo; Tanaka, Fan, Fawcett, Tietjen (Sauer 68); Boxx (Kester 85), Foudy, Mascaro (Lindsey 65); Zhang (Rohbock 61), Akide, MacMillan. Carolina — Luckenbill; T. Roberts, Baxter, Wilson, Slaton; Fettig, Lehn, Riise; Barnes (James 73), Yankowski (N. Roberts 57), Fotopoulos. Yellow card — Fotopoulos 44. Referee — Kari Seitz. Att. — 5,166. Washington 1 New York 4. Goals: Gerardo (Barr, Wambach) 9; Milbrett (Ormen) 33, Milbrett (Ormen) 54, Ormen (Fair, Mustonen) 64, Rapp 84. Washington — Greathouse; Moore, Stoecker, Grubb, Barr; Cook (Pu 45), Makinen, Gerardo; J. Little (Rigamat 75), Wambach, Milburn (Bai 45). New York — Webber; Pearce, Tracy, Whelchel, Pearman; Lalor (Davey 82), Fair, Rapp, Ormen; Milbrett (Stauffer 87), Mustonen (Janss 68). Yellow cards — Washington, J. Little 42, Gerardo 69; New York, Milbrett 63. Referee — Rachel Woo. A — 8,206.