Late goals determined all three WUSA matches Saturday, but Boston was the only winner, tightening the race among the top clubs as the month ended.
Dagny Mellgren's 83rd-minute goal lifted the Breakers past visiting San Jose, 1-0, to move within two points of idle Washington and within one of second-place Atlanta.
Danielle Fotopoulos' fifth goal of the season, in the 84th minute, pulled Carolina to a 2-2 tie with host Philadelphia, which got two goals from Marinette Pichon.
Julie Foudy converted a 84th-minute penalty kick to give San Diego a 1-1 draw with visiting Atlanta.
The top five teams are separated by four points, but the first-place Freedom (5-1-1, 16 points) have played only seven matches, fewer than the other four contenders. Atlanta (4-1-3) has 15 points, Boston (4-3-2) has 14, San Diego (3-1-4) has 13, and San Jose (4-4-0) has 12.
Saturday's highlights:
Boston 1 San Jose 0: Goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc made six saves and a late Brandi Chastain free kick struck the crossbar as the Breakers held off the dominant CyberRays, bouncing back one week after their 13-game home unbeaten streak was stopped.
The match drew 8,168 to Boston University's Nickerson Field, more than watched the Breakers' first two matches — combined — in the stadium this season.
Mellgren's goal, her sixth of the year, came from a long ball sent by Maren Meinert. The pass lured San Jose goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene out of her box. Beene, Mellgren and the ball all arrived at the same time, but the ball rolled behind Beene as neither she nor Mellgren touched it.
The Norwegian forward got her shot off before Amanda Cromwell slid in front of her, and the ball reached the net just ahead of a sliding Thori Bryan.
Mellgren is one of four players with six goals this season, along with teammate Maren Meinert, Washington's Mia Hamm and Atlanta's Maribel Dominguez.
Philadelphia 2 Carolina 2: Pichon gave the Philly (1-5-1, 4 points) leads in the 13th and 76th minutes, but visiting Carolina (1-5-1, 4 points) battled back before 4,180 in rain at Villanova Stadium, the first sub-5,000 home crowd in Charge history.
Pichon, who has five goals, scored on breakaways from passes by Melanie Hoffmann on the first strike and Stacey Tullock on the second. Tullock, primarily a defensive midfielder last season but stationed on the left flank this year, has 10 points in her past 10 games.
Birgit Prinz scored just before halftime, and Fotopolous earned the tie on a rebound after Unni Lehn's shot was saved.
San Diego 1 Atlanta 1: Charmaine Hooper was whistled for pulling down Julie Fleeting on a corner kick, and Foudy's spot kick extended the Spirit's unbeaten streak to seven games before 4,972 at Torero Stadium, the second-smallest crowd in San Diego history.
Hooper gave the Beat a fifth-minute lead, taking a long ball flicked on by Maribel Dominguez, nutmegging defender Lisa Krzykowski to find open space in the box, then beating goalkeeper Jaime Pagliarulo from 13 yards.
San Diego overcame an hour of Atlanta dominance and controlled most of the second half, but superb performances by Beat goalkeeper Briana Scurry and defenders Kylie Bivens and Nancy Augustyniak kept the Spirit off the scoreboard until Foudy's penalty.
Atlanta disputed the call by referee Sandra Hunt — Hooper said she and Fleeting both leapt for the ball, collided and fell to the ground — and television replays were inconclusive.
San Diego goalkeeper Jaime Pagliarulo made a club-record 10 saves.
Augustyniak was red-carded in stoppage time after fouling Zhang Ouying from behind on a breakaway. Zhang, just outside the box when she was felled, had only Scurry to beat.
Both WUSA red cards this season have gone to Atlanta. Kylie Bivens was sent off May 17 against San Jose after receiving two yellow cards for reckless play by the 36th minute.
SATURDAY'S SUMMARIES
May 31 at Boston
Boston 1 San Jose 0. Goal: Mellgren (Meinert) 83.
Boston — LeBlanc; Kluegel, Sobrero, McCann, Aldama; Mugneret-Beghe (O'Grady, 46), Hucles, Popper (Monroe, 74), Lilly; Meinert, Mellgren.
San Jose — Beene; Sanchez, Bryan, Cromwell, Chastain; Barr (Venturini-Hoch, 85); Sissi, Clemens (Barnes, 46), French; Pretinha, Katia.
Yellow cards — None.
Referee — Erich Simmons.
A — 8,168.
May 31 at Philadelphia
Philadelphia 2 Carolina 2. Goals: Pichon (Hoffmann, Fair) 13, Pichon (Tullock) 76; Prinz (Overbeck, Baxter) 44, Fotopoulos (Lehn, Prinz) 84.
Philadelphia — Moore; Mitts, McVeigh, Tietjen-Prozzo, Benson; Fair; E. Burt, Misaki, Tullock; Pichon, Hoffmann.
Carolina — Luckenbill; S. Burt, Fettig, Baxter, Boyd (Slaton, 46); James, Overbeck (O'Hanley, 46), Roberts, Lehn; Fotopoulos, Prinz.
Yellow cards — Philadelphia: Hoffmann 45, Fair 67; Carolina: S. Burt 28.
Referee — Misail Tsapos.
A — 4,180.
May 31 at San Diego
San Diego 1 Atlanta 1. Goals: Foudy pen. 84; Hooper (Sawa, Nonen) 5.
San Diego — Pagliarulo; Pickup, Fawcett, Krzykowski; Daniela (Nielsen, 67), Connors; Foudy, Wagner; Sullivan (Zhang, 73), Fleeting, Latham (Bush, 61).
Atlanta — Scurry; Bivens, N. Augustyniak, Nonen, Gaston; Serlenga, Sawa; Parlow (Miller, 76), Dominguez (J. Augustyniak, 80); Hooper, Pohlers (Crumpton, 58).
Yellow cards — San Diego: Daniela 30, Wagner 55; Atlanta: Nonen 34, Parlow 63.
Red card — Atlanta: N. Augustyniak 92+.
Referee — Sandra Hunt.
A — 4,972.
EXHIBITION
May 31 at Rochester, N.Y.
New York 2 (Boxx pen. 13, Welsh 77) Washington (Wambach 22, Lindsey 33).
WUSA STANDINGS
Pl W-L-T Pts (GF-GA)
1. Washington 7 5-1-1 16 points (18-9)
2. Atlanta 8 4-1-3 15 (18-5)
3. Boston 9 4-3-2 14 (14-17)
4. San Diego 8 3-1-4 13 (11-8)
5. San Jose 8 4-4-0 12 (8-8)
6. New York 8 3-5-0 9 (13-22)
7. Carolina 7 1-5-1 4 (11-16)
8. Philadelphia 7 1-5-1 4 (9-17)
THIS WEEK'S RESULTS
Saturday, May 31
Boston 1 San Jose 0
Philadelphia 2 Carolina 2
San Diego 1 Atlanta 1 New York 2 Washington 2 (exhibition)
NEXT WEEK'S GAMES
Saturday, June 7
Carolina at Atlanta, 4 p.m. (PAX TV)
Philadelphia at San Diego, 9 p.m.
Sunday, June 8
Boston at Washington, 4 p.m.
New York at San Jose, 6 p.m.
All times Eastern
LEADING SCORERS
G-A–Pts
1. Maribel Dominguez (Atlanta) 6-4–16
Mia Hamm (Washington) 6-4–16
Maren Meinert (Boston) 6-4–16
4. Danielle Fotopoulos (Carolina) 5-5–15
5. Charmaine Hooper (Atlanta) 4-5–13
Dagny Mellgren (Boston) 6-1–13
7. Marinette Pichon (Philadelphia) 5-1–11
Abby Wambach (Washington) 4-3–11
9. Birgit Prinz (Carolina) 4-2–10
10. Julie Fleeting (San Diego) 4-1–9
11. Tiffeny Milbrett (New York) 3-2–8
Homare Sawa (Atlanta) 3-2–8
Christie Welsh (New York) 4-0–8
14. Jacqui Little (Washington) 2-3–7
Pretinha (San Jose) 3-1–7
16. Abby Crumpton (Atlanta) 2-2–6
Sissi (San Jose) 1-4–6
Stacey Tullock (Philadelphia) 1-4–6
19. Julie Foudy (San Jose) 2-1–5
Melanie Hoffmann (Philadelphia) 1-3–5
Kelly Golebiowski (Washington) 2-1–5
Shannon MacMillan (San Diego) 1-3–5
Joanne Peters (New York) 2-1–5
Lindsay Stoecker (Washington) 2-1–5
25. Brandi Chastain (San Jose) 1-2–4
Krista Davey (New York) 2-0–4
Monica Gonzalez (Boston) 1-2–4
Katia (San Jose) 1-2–4
Unni Lehn (Carolina) 0-4–4
Conny Pohlers (Atlanta) 1-2–4