Washington used a penalty kick and an own goal to take charge in the battle for playoff berths with a 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon at San Jose. Jen Grubb and Monica Gerardo got goals for the Freedom (7-5-4, 25 points), which captured the season series with the CyberRays (6-6-4, 22 points) and moved into third place in the WUSA standings. Washington, San Jose and Atlanta (8-7-1, 25 points) are battling for the final two semifinal berths. The Freedom and Beat are even in the league's first two standings tiebreakers, series record (1-1) and series goals (2-2). The Freedom are on top with a better goal differential, the third tiebreakers. The series finale is Aug. 4 in Washington. San Jose, the reigning champion, also lost its season series to Atlanta; it has the toughest remaining schedule among the contenders, with two games against first place Philadelphia and another against second-place Carolina. The CyberRays' final three games are on the road; they've won only once away from home this season. Sissi, playing in front of her mother for the first time in her career, headed the CyberRays ahead in the fifth minute. They were the dominant team much of the match and built a 21-6 advantage in shots, but mistakes cost them on every Freedom goal. Goalkeeper Dawn Greathouse, taking on her former club while making her league debut for San Jose, took down a slippery Bai Jie near the end of the first half. Grubb's penalty kick evened the score. Washington went ahead in the 57th minute on a Kelly Lindsey own goal. Ann Cook sent a long ball into the box for Bai, and Greathouse came out to collect it. Lindsey, at the top of the box, leapt to get her head on the ball, which arced over the keeper and into the net. Gerardo made it 3-1 with a sharp shot from 22 yards out on the right that went off Greathouse's hands en route to the lower-left corner. Pu Wei hit the crossbar early in the second half for Washington, and Sissi struck the left post minutes later. Tisha Venturini-Hoch hit the post, then knocked home her rebound with Washington ahead, 2-1, but an offside call eliminated the goal. SUNDAY'S SUMMARY July 21 at San Jose San Jose 2 Washington 3. Goals: Sissi (French, Pretinha) 5, Katia (Clark) 91+; Grubb pen. 39, own goal Lindsey 56, Gerardo (J. Little) 83. San Jose — Greathouse; Alagich, Bryan, Lindsey, French (Clark, 62); Nanez, Sissi, Venturini-Hoch, Pretinha; Bell (Wagner, 74), Katia. Washington — Mullinix; S. Little, Moore, Grubb, Barr (Zimny, 63); Cook, Jones, Noftsinger (Gerardo, 68), Pu; Bai (Beard, 72), Milburn (J. Little, 46). Yellow cards — San Jose: Greathouse 38; Washington: Bai 68. Referee — Jesse Johnson. A — 8,384. SATURDAY'S SUMMARIES July 20 at Villanova, Pa. Philadelphia 2 Carolina 0. Goals: Connors (Zhao) 21, Pichon (Tietjen) 25. Philadelphia — Moore; Tietjen, Alfiler (Liu, 69), Iverson; McDowell, Tullock, Monroe; Zhao, Connors; Clemens (Koleski, 74), Pichon. Carolina — Luckenbill; Burt, Fettig, Wilson, O'Hanley; Baxter, Anderson, James (Grose, 64), Prinz; Fotopoulos, Barnes (N. Roberts, 85). Yellow cards — Philadelphia: Clemens 48; Carolina: Anderson 69. Referee — Mark Arblaster. A — 6,946. July 20 at Atlanta Atlanta 3 Boston 1. Goals: Sawa (J. Augustyniak, Serlenga) 27, Hooper (Burt, Bivens) 66, Serlenga 89; Lilly (Meinert) 40. Atlanta — Wilson; J. Augustyniak, Krzykowski (Bivens, 40), Nonen, N. Augustyniak; Serlenga, Miller (Cromwell, 79), Sawa, Burt (Cagle, 70); Hooper, Sun (Remy, 90). Boston — Ducar; Kamholz, Gonzalez, McCann, Aldama (Borisjuk, 85); Sanchez (Kemp, 82), Dacey (Gulbrandsen, 74), Lilly, Wiegmann; Meinert, Mellgren. Yellow cards — Atlanta: Cagle 82; Boston: Aldama 55, Gonzalez 78, McCann 88. Referee — Arnold Baldeaux. A — 6,114. July 20 at Uniondale, N.Y. New York 0 San Diego 1. Goals: Fleeting (Mascaro) 90. New York — Webber; Pearce, Raveia, Whelchel, Fair; McIntosh, Baumgardt-Yamada (Davey, 53), Stauffer, Lalor (Tracy, 88); Janss (Mustonen, 76), Pearman. San Diego — Smolak; Pickup, Sauer, Tanaka, Kraus; Omagbemi, Tietjen, Lindsey; Zhang (Mascaro, 43), Fleeting, Kester (Akide, 65). Yellow cards — New York: Mustonen 90. Referee — Sandra Hunt. A — 4,002. STANDINGS 1. Philadelphia 10-1-4, 34 points; 2. Carolina 10-3-3, 33; 3. Atlanta 8-7-1, 25; 4. Washington 7-5-4, 25; 5. San Jose 6-6-4, 22; 6. Boston 4-8-5, 17; 7. San Diego 4-8-4, 16; 8. New York 2-13-1, 7. NEXT WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Wednesday, July 24
New York at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Boston at Washington, 7 p.m. Saturday, July 27
San Diego at Washington, 4 p.m.
Philadelphia at Boston, 6 p.m.
New York at San Jose, 6 p.m.
Carolina at Atlanta, 7 p.m. All times Eastern LEADING SCORERS
(G-A–Pts)
1. Marinette Pichon (Philadelphia) 13-1–27
2. Maren Meinert (Boston) 7-12–26
3. Katia (San Jose) 12-1–25
4. Tiffeny Milbrett (New York) 8-8–24
5. Kristine Lilly (Boston) 7-9–23
6. Dagny Mellgren (Boston) 10-2–22
Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 8-6–22
8. Birgit Prinz (Carolina) 8-5–21
Hege Riise (Carolina) 5-11–21
10. Abby Wambach (Washington) 7-5–19
11. Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 8-1–17
12. Shannon MacMillan (San Diego) 5-6–16
13. Homare Sawa (Atlanta) 4-5–13
14. Zhang Ouying (San Diego) 5-2–12
15. Emily Janss (New York) 5-1–11
Julie Foudy (San Diego) 4-3–11
Kelly Smith (Philadelphia) 4-3–11
Sissi (San Jose) 1-9–11
19. Cindy Parlow (Atlanta) 4-2–10
Nikki Serlenga (Atlanta) 2-6–10
21. Mia Hamm (Washington) 4-1–9
Tisha Venturini-Hoch (San Jose) 4-1–9
Brandi Chastain (San Jose) 3-3–9
Lori Lindsey (San Diego) 2-5–9
Bettina Wiegmann (Boston) 1-7–9