WUSA

Bay Area (a winner), Atlanta (a loser) are on verge of clinching playoffs after Sunday’s action.

The two teams are tied for first place after the CyberRays received Kim Clark’s first WUSA goal and then an assist in an eight-minute span for a 2-1 road victory over Carolina Courage.

Shannon MacMillan scored two goals for the San Diego Spirit which handed the visiting Atlanta Beat its second straight loss 3-1. Meanwhile, Mia Hamm and the Washington Freedom fell into a tie for last place with Carolina after the host Boston Breakers held on to beat Washington 2-1

MacMillan put the Spirit (6-7-4, 22 points) ahead for good in the 22nd minute, nailing a free kick into the top left corner past Beat backup goalkeeper Melanie Wilson for a 1-0 lead before a capacity crowd of 6,155 at Torero Stadium.

San Diego accomplished something in the last five days that it could not do in the first three months of the season, winning consecutive matches, and in the process jumped three spots to fifth place.

The play followed a nine-minute delay for treatment of Atlanta starting Scurry who had injured her right ankle in a collision with teammate Dayna Smith and San Diego's Tara Koleski as the players scrambled for the ball at the top of the box. Smith was issued a yellow card after the play.

Scurry was not the only personnel loss for Atlanta. Homare Sawa suffered a left knee contusion and was substituted during injury time of the first half while fellow striker Cindy Parlow suffered a mild concussion after a collision with Charmaine Hooper and did not return for the second half.

"I was nervous on that free kick," MacMillan said. "There was so much time in between. Usually, it's a no-brainer. You just step and hit it. I was worried about (United States national teammate) Bri and then I realized we had a free kick. . . It was huge for us to score first."

MacMillan’s ninth goal came in the 54th minute, giving her three two-goal games on the season. It was a gift after Margaret Tietjen’s centering pass skipped past defender Sharolta Nonen leaving MacMillan alone to easily beat Wilson into the right side of the net to make it 2-0.

Three minutes laterm Atlanta (8-3-7, 31 points), which lost consecutive matches for the first time after going unbeaten in nine, pulled to within 2-1 when Kylie Bivens beat Spirit goalkeeper Bente Nordby to the top right with a 25-yard laser after passes by Emily Burt and Lisa Krzykowski.

Koleski restored the San Diego advantage, scoring to make it 3-1 in the 77th minute off a feed from Mercy Akide who had stripped an opponent.

"We shot ourselves in the foot all day," Beat coach Tom Stone said. "Soccer is a funny game. You can play well most of the day, but also give up soft goals and lose. We did."

San Diego 3, Atlanta 1

Lineups: San Diego - Bente Nordby, Fan Yunjie, Margaret Tietjen, Wen Lirong, Shannon Boxx (Traci Arkenberg 82), Joy Fawcett, Julie Foudy, Jen Mascaro (Holly Pierce 73), Mercy Akide (Sherill Kester 81), Tara Koleski (Missy Wycinsky 88), Shannon MacMillan. Atlanta - Briana Scurry (Melanie Wilson 21), Nancy Augustyniak, Lisa Krzykowski, Sharolta Nonen, Dayna Smith (Amy Walsh 59), Kylie Bivens, Homare Sawa (Bryn Blalack 46+), Nikki Serlenga, Charmaine Hooper, Cindy Parlow (Emily Burt 46), Sun Wen (Kerry Gragg 68).

Scoring:
San Diego - MacMillan (unassisted) 22.
San Diego - MacMillan (Tietjen, Akide) 54.
San Diego - Bivens (Krzykowski, Burt) 57.
San Diego - Koleski (Akide) 77.

Total shots: San Diego 13 (MacMillan 5), Atlanta 13 (Hooper 5). Shots on goal: San Diego 8 (MacMillan 4), Atlanta 10 (Hooper 3). Saves: San Diego - Nordby 8; Atlanta - Scurry 1, Wilson 3. Fouls: San Diego 22 (Akide 5, Boxx 5), Atlanta 23 (Hooper 6). Offside: San Diego 1, Atlanta 2. Corner kicks: San Diego 1, Atlanta 2. Yellow card cautions: San Diego - Fan 24, Boxx 31, Kester 85; Atlanta - Smityh 13, Blalack 73.

Referee: Ricardo Salazar. Referee's assistants: Steven Davidson, Sandra Belmont. Attendance: 6,155 at Torero Stadium in San Diego. Weather: 82 degrees, clear.