When the dust settled on a disappointing weekend for the Athletica, the team had dropped into fourth place, but just two behind second place Washington and with a game in hand.

The downside of that game in hand is that as the weather gets hotter, the Athletica will be cramming more games into the remainder of the schedule than anyone else. They play L.A. on Wednesday, their second game in four days and then play at Sky Blue on Sunday, giving them three games in nine days. The upside of the Wednesday night game is that coach Jorge Barcellos has his team practicing in the slightly cooler evening this week. After Wednesday, the Athletica don’t play at home for almost a month.

it was easy to see the problem on Saturday:  Getting the ball in the net. The chances were there, the finishing touch just inches off. If Christie Welsh heads the ball an inch lower, the team is up 1-0. Same with Tancredi. Right before the second corner kick, I said aloud, they’re not going to get a chance like they got the last time, but they did.

“We weren’t marking tight enough on the corners and then it never happened again,” Washington goalie Erin MacLeod said. “We were lucky to get away with the two times at happened. We adjusted well. We should have adjusted after the first but we eventually got it.”

The Athletica defense wasn’t as crisp as it had been and Elise Weber suffered one of the ultimate soccer indiginities, being lifted in the first half. “In her area of the field, there was a lot of space for them to play,” coach Jorge Barcellos said. “They were playing too comfortably in that side. All the Washingotn plays at the beginning were happening on that side and we didn’t like what we saw. She had the yellow card already also so I chose to put a fresh player in there and we tried to take care of the problem and I think we did.”

That also got Melissa Tancredi back in the lineup for the first time since May 9. I’m not sure how the back line will play out this week.

Barcellos showed his Brazilian-ness on Saturday when he put Sara Larsson in and moved Tancredi up top to go for the win rather than the tie in the closing minutes. For Brazil, winning is the only option and though he might have done it differently on the road, Barcellos feels his team needs to win its home games. Right now the team is 2-2-1 at home, which is actually fairly typical for the league. L.A. is the only team with a really good home record. L.A., by the way, is 2-1-2 on the road.

Washington’s goal was helped by the speed of Lisa De Vanna, who forces defenders to make tough choices. “She’s a pacy player,” Kia McNeill said. “You have to be smart in terms of when you step up or drop back. If you step up too quickly, she’ll go right by you. If you’re not close enough, she’ll play the ball like she did.”

Lost in the shuffle was a marvelous save by Hope Solo in the first half, pulling a shot by Sawa off he line. Washington coach Jim Gabarra termed it the “save of the season.” “That’s what you want from a goalie,” he said, “whether it’s to keep you in the lead or keep you in the game. Both keepers were spectacular.”

Gabarra on his team’s late-game goals against Athletica:

“I think it’s one of those, the cat has nine lives, and you don’t think you can rely on it. It was a pretty evenly played game, kind of a last team standing kind of situaton. The heat effected the tempo of the game and having Abby come out certainly effected our scoring. It’s a credit to this team that every time we’ve had to play without her, someone, especially Rebecca (Moros) and Lisa have stepped up and to take over the scoring role.”

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In the back corridors of the A-B Center are pictures from some of the international games that have been played at the facility over the years, including one of the U.S. team from the World Cup qualifier with Jamaica in 1988 that included Gabarra. Before the game, Gabarra showed the picture to his team and gave them a little history lesson.

“They still have the two pictures up there and I showed them and explained my personal history here and how special a place it is to me. I’ve been here I think, my wife with Navy when they used to play the Toys for Tots tournament, but Navy hasn’t been part of it for a while. The place has held up great. I told them, this is our Columbus, this was the only place we could get a home field advantage with the national team. It’s a very special place.

“It’s important for them to know the history, important for people like me who were the pioneers, to make sure they know, this is where we used to get the job done when we needed to. It’s a great place. Hopefully with the transition, they’ll keep it open and improve it a little bit.”

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Ultimately, while America’s 3-0 win over Egypt was surprising, it wasn’t as surprising as Brazil’s 3-0 win over Italy. The U.S. hit the exact combination it needed to advance to the semifinals of the Confederations Cup, and they got no favors, considering the handball on the goal line that wasn’t called. (I was watching on my computer at the Wizards game, so I had a pretty small picture, but yikes, how did they miss that one?) Now, the U.S. is going to get thumped by Spain on Wednesday, or one would think, but they’ve got a shot at third since they’ll probably get South Africa in the consolation game. They may not be the most deserving team to reach the semifinals, but at least it gets them another game against a top-flight opponent.

I should also note that before the tournament, I said the U.S. would need to get at least a point against Italy and Brazil to advance. Thanks to Egypt, they got thumped twice and still got through. Egypt should be the U.S. team’s best friend: They beat Italy and then got thumped by the Americans.

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It wasn’t a sellout at Hermann for the Superliga, but getting 5,000 on a day like Sunday is respectable. I’m not sure if there were a lot of Mexican fans or if they were just louder than the American fans. I was surprised to hear from several people that they didn’t know the game was happening until Sunday morning.

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By the way, someone sent me an e-mail asking which 1999 women’s players were on hand Saturday, and the answer is none. The Athletica got the Women’s World Cup trophy, but no players. Coincidentally, Briana Scurry, the goalie on the 99 team and now a player for Washington, didn’t make the traveling squad this week, so even she wasn’t on hand.