Reigning WUSA scoring champion Katia scored her third goal of the season and Katie Barnes netted her second as San Jose, playing its first match since Pretinha tore her anterior cruciate ligament, topped last-place Philadelphia, 2-1, before 5,423 at Spartan Stadium to climb back into the playoff race.

Katia tied the score just before halftime and Barnes scored the winner in the 61st minute as the seventh-place CyberRays (6-8-2, 20 points) swept their season series with the Charge (3-10-4, 13 points) and won for the first time in four games.

San Jose pulled within six points of second place and within three of third place.

Philadelphia is on the verge of elimination from the playoff chase.

Charge forward Melanie Hoffmann scored her fifth of the season in the fourth minute after collecting Dianne Alagich's clearance following a corner kick.

Katia's 41st-minute strike, from a sharp angle, followed a 40-yard run past a defender and goalkeeper Hope Solo. Barnes tallied from Sissi's feed.

The Charge, which has battled significant injury problems all season, is 0-5-2 in its last seven games and became the first team this season to lose 10 games. Philly remains mathematically in playoff contention, but will be eliminated with another loss or when two among New York, San Diego and Washington notch their next victories.

SUNDAY'S SUMMARY

July 20 at San Jose

San Jose 2 Philadelphia 1. Goals: Katia (Sanchez, Venturini-Hoch) 41, Barnes (Sissi, Bell) 61; Hoffmann 4.

San Jose — Beene; Alagich, Bryan, Cromwell (Lindsey, 16), French; Barr; Sanchez, Venturini-Hoch (Cook, 90), Sissi; Katia (Bell, 56), Barnes (Antongiovanni, 76).

Philadelphia — Solo; Kruze, McVeigh, Tietjen-Prozzo, Benson; Fair; Burt (Borski, 74), Tullock, Misaki (McNamara, 74); Pichon, Hoffmann.

Yellow cards — None.

Referee — Jesse Johnson.

A– 5,243.

WUSA STANDINGS

Pl W-L-T Pts (GF-GA)
1. Atlanta 17 9-3-5 32 (31-13)
2. Boston 16 7-4-5 26 (25-24)
3. Washington 16 7-6-3 24 (30-25)
4. San Diego 17 6-5-6 24 (23-22)
5. New York 17 7-8-2 23 (28-37)
6. Carolina 16 6-7-3 21 (26-27)
7. San Jose 16 6-8-2 20 (19-21)
8. Philadelphia 17 3-10-4 13 (23-36)

THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Sunday, July 20
San Jose 2 Philadelphia 1

Wednesday, July 16
Philadelphia 0 Atlanta 1
San Diego 2 Washington 1

Saturday, July 19
Boston 0 Atlanta 0
Washington 2 New York 0
Carolina 1 San Diego 0

NEXT WEEK'S GAMES
Wednesday, July 23
Washington at Boston, 7:30 p.m.
New York at San Diego, 10 p.m.

Saturday, July 26
Atlanta at New York, 7 p.m.
Carolina at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
San Diego at Washington, 7 p.m.

Sunday, July 27
Boston at San Jose, 6 p.m.

I>All times Eastern

LEADING SCORERS

G-A–Pts
1. Mia Hamm (Washington) 7-9–23
2. Maren Meinert (Boston) 8-6–22
Dagny Mellgren (Boston) 10-2–22
Marinette Pichon (Philadelphia) 10-2–22
Abby Wambach (Washington) 9-4–22
6. Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 7-7–21
Birgit Prinz (Carolina) 9-3–21
8. Julie Fleeting (San Diego) 8-4–20
Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 7-6–20
10. Maribel Dominguez (Atlanta) 7-4–18
11. Melanie Hoffmann (Philadelphia) 5-5–15
Pretinha (San Jose) 5-5–15
13. Tiffeny Milbrett (New York) 4-5–13
Conny Pohlers (Atlanta) 4-5–13
15. Christine Latham (San Diego) 5-2–12
Christie Welsh (New York) 6-0–12
17. Sissi (San Jose) 3-5–11
18. Cindy Parlow (Atlanta) 3-4–10
Stacey Tullock (Philadelphia) 3-4–10
20. Jacqui Little (Washington) 2-5–9
Lindsay Stoecker (Washington) 4-1–9
22. Abby Crumpton (Atlanta) 3-2–8
Krista Davey (New York) 3-2–8
Julie Foudy (San Jose) 3-2–8
Katia (San Jose) 3-2–8
Homare Sawa (Atlanta) 3-2–8
27. Shannon Boxx (New York) 0-7–7
Venus James (Carolina) 3-1–7
Emily Janss (New York) 3-1–7
Anita Rapp (New York) 2-3–7
Margaret Tietjen (New York) 1-5–7
Aly Wagner (San Diego) 2-3–7
33. Nel Fettig (Carolina) 2-2–6
Kelly Golebiowski (Washington) 2-2–6
Angela Hucles (Boston) 1-4–6
Joanne Peters (New York) 2-2–6
Zhang Ouying (San Diego) 1-4–6
Keri Sanchez (San Jose) 1-4–6
Tisha Venturini-Hoch (San Jose) 2-2–6
40. Katie Barnes (San Jose) 2-1–5
Justi Baumgardt (New York) 1-3–5
Erin Baxter (Carolina) 2-1–5
Kylie Bivens (Atlanta) 1-3–5
Brandi Chastain (San Jose) 1-3–5
Steffi Jones (Washington) 1-3–5
Unni Lehn (Carolina) 0-5–5
Lori Lindsey (Washington) 2-1–5
Shannon MacMillan (San Diego) 1-3–5
Jaclyn Raveia (New York) 2-1–5
Cheryl Salisbury (New York) 2-1–5
Allie Sullivan (San Diego) 1-3–5

Goals
1. Dagny Mellgren (Boston) 10
Marinette Pichon (Philadelphia) 10
3. Birgit Prinz (Carolina) 9
Abby Wambach (Washington) 9
5. Julie Fleeting (San Diego) 8
Maren Meinert (Boston) 8
7. Maribel Dominguez (Atlanta) 7
Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 7
Mia Hamm (Washington) 7
Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 7

Assists
1. Mia Hamm (Washington) 9
2. Shannon Boxx (New York) 7
Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 7
4. Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 6
Maren Meinert (Boston) 6
6. Melanie Hoffman (Philadelphia) 5
Unni Lehn (Carolina) 5
Jacqui Little (Washington) 5
Tiffeny Milbrett (New York) 5
Pretinha (San Jose) 5
Sissi (San Jose) 5
Margaret Tietjen (New York) 5